CapitaLand subsidiary invests $216.6m in first India data centre

It will be one of the largest data centre campuses in Airoli, Navi Mumbai.

CapitaLand’s subsidiary, Ascendas India Trust (a-iTrust), will be investing INR12 billion ($216.6 million) to develop and operate phase one of its first data centre campus in Airoli, a growing data centre hub in Navi Mumbai.

According to Ascendas India’s manager, Ascendas Property Fund Trustee Pte. Ltd., the 6.6-acre greenfield site will be developed in phases into a fully-fitted data centre campus with a total potential built-up area of up to 575,000 square feet and 90 megawatts of power to host customers, such as global technology giants and cloud service providers, as well as large domestic enterprise clients.

The data centre campus site, which a-iTrust is acquiring, is situated in a prime location along Thane-Belapur Road, easily accessible from Mumbai City via the Eastern Express Highway.

Navi Mumbai has emerged as a preferred data centre location since it offers proximity to sea cable landing stations, larger land parcels with clear title, abundant and scalable power, developed infrastructure, and seamless vendor-neutral network connectivity. 

When it is fully developed, the data centre campus will have an overall capacity to host approximately 8,500 racks and operate at an efficient power usage effectiveness of approximately 1.4. In line with CapitaLand’s 2030 Sustainability Master Plan, the data centre will adopt sustainable design principles and green building standards. These include features such as intelligent energy management systems, solar panels, and waterless cooling systems.

With the acquisition, Ascendas India’s portfolio, including pipeline projects, will increase by 1.2% from approximately 24.9 million square feet to 25.2 million square feet. 

The acquisition of the site from third-party vendors is expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2021. The data centre campus will comprise two buildings. In phase one, the first building, which is scheduled to be ready by the second quarter of 2024, will have a built-up area of about 325,000 square feet.