Hyderabad data centre capacity to triple by 2025: JLL

Hyderabad data centre capacity is expected to grow to 130 MW ending 2025 from 32 MW in H1 2020, according to JLL’s H1 2020 ‘(re)imagine Data Centres: Running India’s Digital Economy’ report.

The city is likely to attract hyper scalers due to various incentives provided for data centres and the presence of global in-house centres. During June-December, India is expected to see 57 MW new capacity, twice that of 27 MW new supply during H1 2020.

India’s data centre capacity is expected to grow to 1,078 MW by 2025 from 375 MW in H1 2020, presenting a  $4.9 billion investment opportunity. According to JLL’s H1 2020 report, the impact of data protection laws, increased shift from captive to colocation (colo) data centres and implementation of new technologies like 5G, edge computing and the Internet of Things (IoT) will drive sustained investor demand for this asset class over the next five years.

“India’s data centre market will outperform over the next five years, supported by a combination of growing digital economy, increased investor interest and stable long-term returns. The 703 MW expected capacity additions, translating to 9.3 million square feet of space, will open up greenfield investments for real estate developers and investors,” said Sandip Patnaik, Managing Director – Hyderabad, JLL India.

India’s data centre industry has provided an immense boost to the digital economy during H1 2020. Daily data consumption rose from an average of 270 petabytes (PB) during the pre-lockdown period to an average of 308 PB post lockdown, registering a 14 percent rise.

There was a 12 percent rise in data consumption in Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, and a 7 percent increase in Maharashtra, which is the highest data consumer.

In terms of total capacity addition, there has been an increase of 8 percent in H1 2020, taking India’s total colocation capacity to 375 MW. H1 2020 witnessed supply addition of 27 MW, which is 56 percent of the total addition seen in 2019 (48 MW). Mumbai continued to lead with an addition of 19 MW, followed by Bengaluru at 5 MW and Delhi NCR at 3 MW.

The dependence of several industries on digital infrastructure has partially helped mitigate the impact of the lockdown as IT/ITeS, banking and financial services, e-commerce, capital markets, social media and education remained operational.

“Mumbai is expected to see the highest capacity addition as it continues to be the preferred choice for large cloud players because of its infrastructure advantage. Hyderabad is likely to see the third largest capacity addition of 98 MW, leading to a demand for 0.7 million sq ft of additional real estate space over the next five and half years ending 2025” says Samantak Das, Chief Economist and Head of Research & REIS, JLL India.