Hyderabad: The Indian data centre sector is expected to see 560 MW (IT Power Load) capacity additions during 2021-23, which will drive the capacity of 447 MW to 1,007 MW. Of this, Hyderabad alone is expected to see a capacity addition of 66 MW by 2023, accounting for over 9.5 per cent of India’s capacity then, from the current 30MW level.
Telangana is among the very few States in the country to have an independent Data Centre Policy, as early as 2016. Apart from being home to a large pool of talented manpower, high quality and cost-effective infrastructure, the city is centrally located in India, well connected and seismologically safe. All these advantages backed by a dedicated policy make Hyderabad one of the most attractive investment destinations for setting up data centres, say experts.
Of India’s current data centre capacity of 447 MW, Hyderabad accounts for seven per cent share as of December 2020 standing at 30 MW IT power load capacity. India’s data centre capacity is expected to grow from 447 MW in H2 2020 to 1,007 MW by 2023, registering a CAGR of 31 per cent.
During 2021-23, despite absence of cable landing stations, Hyderabad is expected to attract data centre companies as well as hyperscale cloud providers due to favourable policy incentives, reliable power supply and economical set up costs, said Sandip Patnaik, MD & head Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, JLL.
New projects
Hyderabad today roughly has an IT design power load of 30MW capacity with a data centre built up space of over seven lakh sq ft primarily concentrated in HITEC City and Budvel. About 80 per cent of the built up space is utilised by 5,864 racks/units. The city is expected to see an addition of 8MW in 2021, followed by 29 MW each for 2022 and 2023, he added.
One of the dominant players in the segment with a 50 per cent share in the market, Hyderabad-headquartered CtrlS is setting up a 2 million sq ft hyperscale data centre in the city, which will add city’s capabilities and capacities. Flipkart has also set up its data centre in Hyderabad in April 2019.
Amazon is setting up large scale hyperscale data centres in the city with an investment of Rs 11,624 crore (approximately $1.6 billion). While the data centre in Meerkhanpet village will be spread across 82,883 sq metres, the centre in Chandanvelly and Hythabad village will be 66,003 sq metres area. The data centres are expected to begin operations by 2022-23.
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the umbrella organisation for retail payments and settlement systems will be setting its own tier-4, smart data centre at an investment of Rs 500 crore at Narsingi in Hyderabad.
According to JLL, India’s data centre built up space stood at around 10 million sq ft by the end of 2020. Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi and Hyderabad lead the data centre activity in the country.
