Bharti Airtel’s data center arm, Nxtra, is set to raise $1 billion (₹9,400 Cr) in a strategic funding round. Alpha Wave Global and existing backer Carlyle are leading the investment, signaling strong confidence in India’s burgeoning digital infrastructure.
Alpha Wave will inject $435 million (₹4,107 Cr), while Carlyle commits $240 million (₹2,266 Cr). Anchorage Capital will also contribute $35 million (₹330.5 Cr), with Airtel adding the remaining $290 million (₹2,738 Cr). This funding values Nxtra at approximately $3.1 billion (₹29,270 Cr) post-money.
Airtel will retain a controlling stake, pending regulatory approvals. The capital will fuel Nxtra’s expansion plans, infrastructure upgrades, and service diversification.
According to Airtel’s executive vice-chairman, Gopal Vittal, Nxtra aims to scale its capacity to 1 GW in the coming years, targeting a 25% market share. Currently, Nxtra operates nearly 300 MW of capacity.
Carlyle Group initially invested $235 million in Nxtra back in 2020, acquiring a 25% stake, highlighting the increasing investor interest in India’s data center market.
Nxtra, based in Delhi NCR, offers services including co-location, cloud infrastructure, and edge computing to a diverse clientele, including enterprises, startups, SMEs, and government entities. The company operates 14 large core data centers and over 120 edge facilities across India. It is also developing AI-ready campuses in Chennai, Mumbai, and Kolkata.
The funding aligns with the rising demand for secure data centers, propelled by AI adoption and increasing digital service consumption. Cloud penetration among enterprises and data localization mandates further drive this demand.
Government incentives, including a proposed tax holiday for foreign cloud service providers until 2047, also stimulate data center growth. Nirmala Sitharaman, India’s finance minister, has proposed a 15% safe harbor on costs for companies providing data center services from India through related entities.
Indian conglomerates and global tech giants are investing heavily in data centers. Adani Group, for instance, plans a $100 billion investment in renewable energy-powered data centers by 2035. Reliance plans to build significant facilities in Jamnagar and Visakhapatnam, while Amazon intends to invest $12.7 billion on cloud infrastructure in India by 2030.
Industry projections estimate India’s installed data center capacity will double YoY to 2 GW by 2026-end and reach 8 GW by 2030. The homegrown data center market is projected to reach $11.6 billion by 2032, according to the Economic Survey 2024-25.
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