Mumbai emerges as third-biggest data centre market in Asia-Pacific: Report

With a total capacity of 2337 MW, Mumbai has emerged as the third-largest data centre market in the Asia-Pacific region, according to a report by an international property consultant. Mumbai is the only city representing India on the list, and its total capacity expansion has crossed the 2,000-MW mark, Knight Frank said in its report.  

Spurred on by announcements from existing players and a new market entrant - Digital Edge, over 328 MW of capacity was added. Compared to previous quarters, supply movements have moderated, with over 40 per cent of its current live capacity absorbed throughout 2022.

“The data centre sector has witnessed a remarkable acceleration in recent years, driven by the exponential growth of internet usage across commerce, social media, entertainment, and cloud adoption. As data centres gain prominence as an asset class in the country, investors are leveraging various strategies such as mergers and acquisitions (M&As), joint ventures, and land acquisitions to tap into this thriving sector,” Shishir Baijal, chairman and managing director at Knight Frank India, said.

Mumbai was ranked third on the list in terms of the total capacity of data centre services, according to the Q1 2023 report. The live capacity (operational capacity) stood at 270 MW with over half of the total capacity in the early stage at 1272 MW. 11.55 per cent of its total capacity in the live segment.

The study focused on nine rapidly emerging markets in Asia Pacific Region- Bangkok, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney, and Tokyo. In an indication of their higher level of commissioning and demand, Shanghai, Tokyo, Sydney, Singapore, and Hong Kong have a high percentage of their capacity in the live segment.

Data centre capacity in Bangkok rose nearly 30 per cent since the beginning of 2023. Supply levels saw a big rise in Kuala Lumpur, with the expansion recorded in Q1 2023 constituting a third of the total supply added to the market in all of 2022.