BAM Digital Realty to invest Rs 20 bn in Mumbai Data Center Expansion

BAM Digital Realty, collaboration between Brookfield Infrastructure and Digital Realty, has announced plans to invest over Rs 20 billion to develop a data centre in Mumbai's Chandivali area. This joint venture has acquired 2.15 acres of land in a Mumbai suburb for the construction of its second data centre in India. The new facility will have a capacity of 35 MW IT load, adding to the company's total planned capacity in India of 135 MW.

This strategic investment in Mumbai builds upon BAM Digital Realty's initial entry into the Indian market. Their first 20 MW greenfield data center, known as MAA10, is set to launch by the end of 2023 on a 100 MW campus in Chennai.

Arpit Agrawal, Managing Director and Head of Infrastructure, India & Middle East at Brookfield Infrastructure Group, stated, "Mumbai continues to be a prominent data center hub reinforced by the ongoing rapid expansion of the Indian data center industry that is fueling the country's significant digital transformation. As we expand our presence in India and enter the Mumbai market, we are strengthening our mission to offer the highest level of innovation and expertise to our local and global customers."

The selection of the new site in Chandivali was based on its central location in metro Mumbai and its proximity to customers, ensuring a well-connected facility to meet the growing demand for critical digital infrastructure in the region.

Serene Nah, Managing Director and Head of Asia Pacific at Digital Realty, expressed excitement about expanding their footprint in India, saying, "The choice of the strategic location in Chandivali gives local and global customers convenient access to a well-connected facility in the heart of Mumbai. This adds a significant new metro to Digital Realty's safe and open global data meeting place."

With data centres in Mumbai and Chennai, BAM Digital Realty aims to provide an established ecosystem for customers in both the western and eastern regions. Leveraging Digital Realty's global data centre platform, PlatformDIGITAL, this network will support the increasing demand for data centre capacity in India, which is expected to reach around 1,400 MW by the end of 2025 as the country pushes to become the world's third-largest economy.

Mumbai, as India's financial capital and largest city, is home to key enterprises in sectors such as banking, financial services, and digital media. It accounts for nearly 43 per cent of the total data centre capacity in India. Additionally, Mumbai serves as India's primary connectivity hub and leading international internet gateway, hosting the highest number of subsea cables landing in the country. The city also boasts robust power infrastructure and dense fibre connectivity, making it ideal for high-power compute workloads that support emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI).