Traditionally, data centres have been seen as power guzzlers, consuming a huge amount of power to run mission-critical digital infrastructure. Not anymore. Globally, there has been a push by investors who prefer to invest in innovative green data centre technologies. The trend is fast catching up in India too; PhonePe’s green data centre in Navi Mumbai is already up and running, powered by technology from NTT and Dell Technologies with a view to reduce the fintech platform’s carbon footprint. More recently, Princeton Digital Group (PDG) opened its first India data centre in Mumbai, MU1. At 48MW, it is one of the largest data centres in the country and is 40% solar powered, said Vipin Shirsat, managing director, India, PDG.
Singapore-headquartered PDG is a leading developer and operator of internet infrastructure, with a total of 20 data centres in China, Singapore, India, Indonesia and Japan. The company is backed by blue-chip institutional investment firms, Warburg Pincus, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) and Mubadala Investment Company (Mubadala).
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Despite global supply challenges and disruptions, PDG has delivered MU1 within 20 months of its announcement and ahead of its scheduled timeline, Shirsat told FE in an interview. With an investment of $300 million, the facility is built across six acres within a larger IT campus at Airoli, Navi Mumbai.
“The campus will deliver secure and scalable data centre capacity to hyperscalers – large cloud, content, commerce and fintech companies. MU1 will be powered up to 40% by renewable energy and will operate on minimal water consumption. In addition to achieving IGBC Platinum certification, which is the highest standard of Green Buildings Certification, MU1 is the first Open Compute Project (OCP) certified data centre in the country and will also be an Uptime Tier III certified facility,” he informed.
Talking about the data centre landscape in India, Shirsat said, “The India data centre market is witnessing significant investment from local and global investors, including hyperscale operators, driven by increased digitalisation as a result of Covid-19, government initiatives, and the adoption of AI, IoT, and big data.” A report by Crisil estimates that the Indian data centre market is expected to double to 1,700-1,800 megawatt1 (MW) by fiscal 2025 from 870 MW last fiscal.
“The demand for data centres has accelerated rapidly, driven by large-scale cloud adoption, enhanced internet penetration and extensive digital transformation,” he said. “Our MU1 data centre provides advanced internet infrastructure, designed to meet mission critical requirements. With a team of highly experienced data centre professionals, PDG has ambitious plans to scale and expand across India and is also committed to the cause of grooming young engineering talent into leaders of tomorrow.”
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While the data centres are fuelling India’s digital transformation journey, one must also consider its impact on the environment, he stressed. “Data centres can consume large amounts of energy if not planned well. Given that the data centre industry is still developing here, the onus is on the industry players to adopt green technologies as it grows.”
PDGis firming up plans to establish more data centres across multiple cities in India. “We have undertaken surveys in Pune, Delhi, Chennai and Hyderabad, though nothing has been finalised yet,” said Shirsat.
