CapitaLand India Trust inks deal with global hyperscaler amid fast-growing data centre demand
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The trust is also developing four facilities in India's key data centre corridors of Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru.
PHOTO: CAPITALAND INDIA TRUST
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SINGAPORE – CapitaLand India Trust’s (Clint) manager announced on Jan 15 that it has signed a long-term agreement with a leading global hyperscaler for one of its data centres under development.
With this, Clint is likely to pre-lease around half of its total gross power capacity under development, of around 250 megawatts (MW), the manager said.
The move is part of Clint’s strategic diversification plans and will strengthen its portfolio in India, the manager noted. It is also developing four facilities in the key data centre corridors of India, which are Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru.
Mr Gauri Shankar Nagabhushanam, chief executive of Clint’s manager, said: “Clint’s decision to diversify into critical infrastructure such as data centres is validated by the strong interest shown by hyperscale and enterprise customers and positions us well to capitalise on India’s burgeoning digitalisation needs.”
He added that Clint is on track to complete the development of its India data centres, accelerate leasing momentum and unlock value through divestments of partial stakes to strategic investors.
“With the support of our sponsor, CapitaLand Investment (CLI), we are well poised to meet the fast-growing demand for data centre capacity in India,” said Mr Nagabhushanam.
Mr Manohar Khiatani, senior executive director of CLI, noted that demand for data centres is set to grow on the back of rapid digital transformation, increased adoption of cloud computing and a need for data localisation.
India – a core market for CLI – demonstrates “strong growth potential” across asset classes Clint is active in, including data centres.
“India is seeing a surge in demand for data storage and processing given the significant scale and growth of mobile and internet users and businesses widely adopting technologies such as artificial intelligence and internet of things,” he said.
He added that CLI is “fully equipped” to support Clint’s growth in India, given its 30 years of experience in the country, strong technical capabilities and global customer network.
CLI has 27 data centres globally and offers more than 800 MW of gross power on a “completed basis”. This positions it to cater to the expansion needs of hyperscalers and enterprises, said Mr Khiatani.
Units of Clint were trading down one cent, or 0.9 per cent, at $1.05 as at 11.33am on Jan 15. CLI was up five cents, or 2.5 per cent, at $2.51. THE BUSINESS TIMES
