Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad see maximum demand; data centres to deliver annual rental yield of 10-14 percent
The top eight cities across the country can add around 10 million square foot of data centre space in the next two to three years and can deliver an annual rental yield of 10-14 percent. The key cities leading the demand for data centres include Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, among others, an analysis by Anarock has said.
“Currently, data centres in the top 8 cities occupy 7.5 mn sq. ft. space and an additional 10 mn sq. ft. space is likely to be added over the next 2-3 years. Immediately after India went into a lockdown mode due to COVID-19, there was a 25-35% increase in data centre capacity usage as companies began to overhaul their digital infrastructure to deal with the new work environment,” said Shobhit Agarwal, MD & CEO – ANAROCK Capital.
“The pandemic has been a massive catalyst for digital adoption across the spectrum,” says Shobhit Agarwal. “Work-from-home (WFH) compulsions, online education, video-based medical consultations, a huge increase in ecommerce and business-related video conferencing and webinars are increasing the demand for data centres. Furthermore, the government’s move to make data localization mandatory ensures a promising future for data centres in the country.”
As per industry estimates, the data centre outsourcing market in India is worth more than $2 billion and is projected to grow at 25 percent CAGR to reach $5 billion by FY2023-24. In fact, data centres are emerging as an alternative real estate asset class with huge potential, and leading real estate developers are zeroing in on this opportunity to reap superior returns from early investments.