New Delhi: With AI, cloud computing becoming the most sought-after services in India, the demand for data centres is also exploding at a fast rate in the country, Nikhil Kamath, the co-founder of Zerodha, has invested ₹200 crore in CtrlS Datacenters. The total fresh investment in the company is now ₹250 crore after an additional amount of ₹50 crore was invested by entrepreneur Sreeram Reddy Vanga.
The investment is at a juncture when data centres are emerging as a key component of India’s digital infrastructure. Large computing power and storage requirement is needed for AI services, cloud platforms, online businesses, and other digital applications. This is creating a demand for modern data centres which are capable of withstanding heavy workloads.
New capital will be deployed to boost its infrastructure and capacity in India, said CtrlS. The company wants to address the rising demand of enterprises and large tech companies particularly with the rise of AI and cloud workloads.
With this investment, it is clear that investors are increasingly interested in India’s data centre market. With increased adoption of AI, the demand for robust AI servers, storage solutions, cooling infrastructure, and efficient power supply systems is likely to increase.
Talking about the investment, Kamath underscored the significance of data centres during the next catalyst of technology growth. A robust data centre network is crucial for the development of AI, cloud computing, and India’s digital infrastructure.
Established in 2007 by Sridhar Pinnapureddy, CtrlS has currently 19 data centre locations in nine markets across India. It has over 370 MW of capacity and has a portfolio of projects under development at various stages with an installed capacity of ~ 4.4 GW.
The company has also been broadening its reach into the AI-ready infrastructure space. According to CtrlS, its facilities are “optimized to meet the needs of high-performance computing, AI and ML, and large language model workloads.
The new investment comes after the previous one, which was made by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) to support CtrlS in its mission of expanding data centre footprint in India, totaling to ₹7,000 crore.
The data centre market in India has had a rapid growth over the past few years. The installed capacity of data centres in India has jumped from around 375 MW in 2020 to approximately 1,575 MW by 2026, as per data cited by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
As more businesses increasingly adopt AI, there should continue to be high demand for data centres. Hence, Kamath’s investment in CtrlS is a very timely opportunity in India’s technology and digital infrastructure industry.
