THE TIPPING POINT - INDIA'S DATA CENTER REVOLUTION

India's data center operational capacity is expected to more than double to 2,000-2,100 MW by FY27 from 950 MW in FY24, involving investment of up to INR 55,000 crore, supported by digital explosion and data localization initiatives, according to ICRA

- AYUSHMAN BARUAH

As internet becomes ubiquitous, data consumption has risen multifold. Each time we are watching a video or browsing the internet, we are consuming data. According to the latest report by Nokia, the total monthly mobile data consumption in India reached a record 17.4 exabytes per month with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 26 per cent over the past five years, driven by the growing adoption of 5G technology. The launch of 5G, Nokia suggests, has emerged as a significant catalyst for the growth in data usage, contributing to 15 per cent of all data traffic in 2023. In the enterprise side, increased digitalization, cloud becoming mainstream, and adoption of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and internet of things (IoT) have led to increased demand for data centers to store and process the vast amount of data. All of this has led India’s data center revolution to reach a tipping point resulting in mammoth growth of the entire industry.