Ascendas India Trust, which is owned by CapitaLand, is planning to build India’s first data centre campus.
Ascendas Property Fund Trustee Pte. Ltd., the Trustee-Manager of Ascendas India Trust (a-iTrust), is investing approximately R 12 billion ($162.4 million) in the development and operation of the first phase of a campus in Airoli, Navi Mumbai.
The company stated that it expects to complete the acquisition of the site from third-party vendors by the third quarter of 2021. The campus will be comprised of two buildings; the first will be 325,000 square feet in size and is scheduled to open in Q2 2024.
The 6.6-acre greenfield site will be developed in phases to accommodate up to 575,000 square feet (53,400 square metres) and 90MW of capacity when fully developed. According to the company, once completed, the campus will be capable of housing 8,500 racks and will have a Power Usage Effectiveness of 1.4.
“Our entry into the Indian data centre sector diversifies a-portfolio iTrust’s into an attractive and highly scalable asset class,” said Sanjeev Dasgupta, Chief Executive Officer of Ascendas India Trust’s Trustee-Manager. “With the support of our sponsor, CapitaLand, we will be able to leverage the CapitaLand Group’s data centre expertise and maintain complete control over the data center’s design and quality.”
Ascendas India Trust is a real estate investment trust that owns IT and logistics parks in Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, and Mumbai, India. CapitaLand, Singapore’s real estate conglomerate, owns it.
CapitaLand acquired its first data centre in China in April, paying $564.5 million for a campus in Shanghai.
“India’s growing data consumption and demand for high-quality solutions provide an excellent opportunity for CapitaLand to enter the country’s burgeoning data centre market,” added He Jihong, CEO of Data Centre and Chief Corporate Strategy Officer of CapitaLand Group. “We are accelerating our growth in data centres and diversifying our portfolio into new economy asset classes.”
Jihong stated that the group has invested approximately S$1.7 billion (US$1.26 billion) this year in data centres and is looking to expand its data centre portfolio in the group’s core markets.”
