India Data Center Capacity Projected to Reach 8GW by 2030

India's data center capacity is projected to grow from 1.5GW to between 5GW and 8GW by 2030, according to an analysis by Sanford C. Bernstein. This growth is largely attributed to capacity constraints in the Middle East, which are pushing development toward the Indian market.

The report identifies land access and substation power as the primary competitive advantages for developers, outweighing the importance of compute hardware. This scarcity is already impacting markets like Navi Mumbai, where intense competition for land has driven prices higher.

Adani Group holds a dominant position in the sector due to its extensive scale in renewables, private thermal power, transmission, and land holdings. Reliance Industries also maintains a significant advantage through its ownership of 0.5 million acres of land in Gujarat and strategic assets in Navi Mumbai.

Indian developers are expected to adopt the colocation model to shift GPU balance-sheet risks to hyperscalers. This strategy aligns with global valuation trends observed in operators such as Equinix and Digital Realty.