Synopsis: This article talks about the Leading investment firms that invested in the Indian Data centre market, and explains the future growth prospects of the Data centre market in India.
India’s data centre capacity will grow 5x to 8GW by 2030, needing $30B in capital expenditure, says a Jefferies report. AI, cloud adoption and data localisation drive this. Mumbai and Chennai are both dominated, accounting for nearly 70% of installed capacity. This unprecedented expansion has attracted significant investments from major global private equity firms and institutional investors, transforming India into one of the world’s fastest-growing digital infrastructure markets.
Leading Global Private Equity Firms
1. Blackstone
The world’s largest data provider is making its biggest move in India by investing $11 billion in data centre infrastructure. Through its Lumina CloudInfra platform, Blackstone has invested around ₹50,000 crore across multiple projects. A ₹20,000 crore joint venture with Panchshil Realty to develop a 500 MW hyperscale Facility in Navi Mumbai with over $600 million in investments. Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman has described India as “just the start” of the data centre industry, highlighting the firm’s long term commitment to doubling its total investment exposure in India to $100 billion.
Key area focus: Real estate, technology, infrastructure
2. Brookfield
Brookfield has invested $13 billion in India since 2009 and continues to expand its digital infrastructure footprint. The firm operates through Digital Connexion, a joint venture with Reliance Industry and Digital Realty Trust, where each partner holds 33.33% equity.
This partnership is developing hyperscale data centres in Chennai and Mumbai with a cumulative IT capacity potential of 160 MW at full development . Brookfield’s first 20 MW greenfield data centre in Chennai became operational in January 2024. The Canadian asset manager has also invested $2.5 billion in infrastructure projects and views data centres as a critical component of its digitalization strategy across India.
Key area focus: Gas pipelines, Telecom towers, and power assets.
3. Carlyle Group
Carlyle acquired a 24% stake in Nxtra Data(Bharti Airtel’s data centre subsidiary) for around ₹1,780 crore. This Investment has grown substantially, with the stake now valued at around ₹5,125 crore($600 million), representing approximately 3x returns. Nxtra operates 12 hyperscale data centers, 10 enterprise grade facilities, and over 120 edge data centres across India with rapid expansion plans to add 400 MW of capacity by 2027. While Carlye is reportedly exploring an exit from this investment, the deal demonstrates the strong value creation potential in India’s data centre sector.
Key area focus: Healthcare, IT, financial services
4. KKR & Co
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co has announced a $50 billion strategic partnership with Energy Capital Partners to develop data centre and power generation infrastructure, with a portion earmarked for Asia pacific markets including India. KKR already owns a 14.1% stake in ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC) after investing $1.4 billion alongside Singtel in 2024. The STT GDC operates 30 data centres in India, making this potential acquisition highly strategic for the Indian market.
Key area focus: Healthcare, technology, and consumer goods
5. Bain Capital
Bain Capital entered the Indian data centre market in 2016 through Bridge Data Centres, committing $1 billion with plans to deploy $400-500 million in India over the initial two years. In 2019, Bain capital merged ChindData with Bridge Data Centres to form a pan Asian platform operating under both brands. In September 2025, Bain Capital sold its China data centre business to a consortium for $4.4 billion though it continues to maintain its India and Southeast Asia operations.
Key area focus: Financial services, manufacturing, IT
Also read: Top 10 Major Companies Fueling India’s Rapidly Growing $30 Billion Data Centre Industry
Sovereign Wealth Funds and Institutional Investors
1. GIC (Singapore)
GIC has not only made its presence felt but has also ensured that it is among the top players in India’s data centre ecosystem through its various strategic alliances. In May 2023, the sovereign wealth fund struck a partnership with Brookfield Asset Management to create a joint venture with an India office worth $1.4 billion, covering the investments in data centre related infrastructure.
GIC was the leading investor in the $1.6 billion investment round with ADIA into Vantage Data Centers making it a strong player in the Indian market and also created a more than $1.5 billion joint venture with CPPIB and Equinix for developing hyperscale data centers all over the world.
2. National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF)
NIIF has been the main driver in bringing in international investors. NIIF entered into an alliance with Digital Edge (which is backed by Stonepeak) and AGP to create a nationwide hyperscale data centre portfolio, which is the reason for NIIF receiving a 45% stake in the whole venture.
The initial undertaking is a 300 MW plant in Navi Mumbai, which will cost around ₹1,400 crore for the first phase, to be further expanded to more than 300 MW in the next 7-8 years. NIIF’s presence gives access to the local market and brings in expertise as well as operators which in turn reduces risk for the international partners.
Running of PE and Institutional Investors in Indian Data Centre Market
| Rank | Investor/PE Firm | India-Specific Investment($Billion) | Investment Type | Entities |
| 1 | Blackstone | $11.0 | Direct- Data Centres | Lumina CloudInfra |
| 2 | Brookfield Asset Managemtn | $12.0 | Direct – Infrastructure | Digital Connexion (with Reliance & Digital Realty) |
| 3 | Adani Enterprises(EdgeConnex JV) | $1.5 | Data Centre Operations (JV) | AdaniConnX – 9DCs by 2030 |
| 4 | Digital Edge(Stonepeak/NIIF/AGP | $1.4 | Data Centre Development | Digital Edge DC India- 300 MW navi Mumbai project. |
| 5 | Carlyle Group | $0.6 | Portfolio Investment(24% Nxtra stake) | Nxtra Data (Bharti Airtel subsidiary) |
| 6 | Bain Capital | $0.4 | Bridge Data Centres India | Bridge Data Centres |
| 7 | GIC(singapore) | $0.16 | APAC investment (India component) | Vantage DC APAC investment($1.6B total, India portion est,) |
Conclusion
India has been set up as one of the most active data center markets in the world on the basis of the convergence of favorable market fundamentals, regulatory support and massive private equity global firms and institutional investors’ capital commitments.
Furthermore, during the coming years, the market is expected to grow five times in capacity by 2030 and investment needs will be over $30 billion thus, the sector will always be a magnet for the world’s biggest infrastructure investors.
Written by Yatheendra N