Digital Edge is also developing this $1 billion facility in Incheon, South Korea
Singapore-based Digital Edge has entered the Indian data centre market by setting up a joint venture with Singapore-based AGP Sustainable Real Assets and a state-backed investor to build a portfolio of hyperscale facilities including a $2 billion facility in Mumbai, according to a joint announcement late Thursday.
Digital Edge is teaming up with AGP’s digital infrastructure arm and the Indian government-backed National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Ltd (NIIF) to develop hyperscale data centres across Asia’s third largest economy, starting with a 300 megawatt development project which will begin construction in Navi Mumbai this year.
“This project is another key milestone in our ongoing growth journey and adds breadth and depth to our regional platform which now spans 16 data centers across six Asian markets,” Samuel Lee, chief executive officer of Digital Edge, said in the statement. “NIIF and AGP bring solid local know-how to our data center expertise, making a strong combination when it comes to executing the project at speed and to international standards.”
The data centre developer-operator is joining other Singaporean investors like CapitaLand India Trust and private equity titans like Blackstone in competing for a slice of India’s rapidly expanding digital infrastructure sector.
Targeting Cloud Market
Digital Edge, AGP DC and NIIF are jointly investing a total of $2 billion to develop the Navi Mumbai project on a 47-acre (19-hectare) site starting early this year. Set to be one of the largest data centres in the country, the project will be operated and marketed solely by Digital Edge upon completion.
Digital Edge chief executive Samuel Lee
The partners said the inaugural facility in their data centre platform is aimed at serving hyperscale clients at “market leading” power and water efficiency levels.
While details of other pipeline projects have yet to be made public, the partners said all facilities will be operated under Digital Edge’s brand name while NIIF, a $4.3 billion fund manager backed by the Indian government, will leverage its local and operational expertise in developing the platform’s infrastructure investments.
“Through this platform, NIIF aims to play a key role in building quality digital infrastructure to support the Government of India’s vision to transform the country into a global data center and cloud computing hub,” said Vinod Giri, managing partner of the NIIF’s infrastructure fund. “The platform resonates with NIIF’s investment philosophy of developing infrastructure at scale and partnering with large, credible, well-governed companies that want to expand into India.”
Singapore-based sustainable real assets manager AGP, which was founded in 2018 with Assetz Property Group chairman Ben Salmon becoming a partner two years ago, according to his LinkedIn profile, has pledged to bring its expertise in property development and construction to the effort through its digital infrastructure arm, AGP DC. With AGP having operations in Australia and Singapore in addition to India, Salmon expects the collaboration among the three firms to meet the demanding requirements of hyperscale customers and support the expansion of the country’s digital infrastructure sector.
The partners are also planning to tap renewable energy sources as the main source of their data centres.
Closing in on 500MW Goal
Backed by US private equity firm Stonepeak, Digital Edge has now gained a foothold in six Asian countries since its inception in 2020 and is planning to add Thailand to its portfolio according to a Mingtiandi interview with Lee late last year.
Developing the Navi Mumbai facility will put Digital Edge closer to its goal of hitting a 500 megawatt portfolio in the next five years. In September last year, the firm began construction of its 23 megawatt facility in Jakarta just five months after it announced a KRW 1 trillion ($1 billion) joint venture to build a 120 megawatt facility near Seoul.
Stonepeak senior managing director Andrew Thomas highlighted the timing of Digital Edge’s India debut, stating that it is an opportune time to enter the market where digital infrastructure still has a “long runway for growth” to catch up with the fast-growing digital economy.
Citing a November 2021 report by IDC, the partners noted that India’s public cloud services is set to become a $10.8 billion market by 2025 with a 24.1 percent projected compound growth rate each year from 2020.
“This, combined with India’s significant population – which is also the highest data consumer in the world – is further fuelling demand for the local data center industry which, according to Structure Research, is expected to grow to 1,073MW of IT load capacity by 2026,” the statement read.
Digital Edge is now the latest regional player to enter the country’s data centre scene, announcing its India entry less than a month after SGX-listed CapitaLand India Trust made back-to-back announcements in December pledging INR 19.4 billion ($230 million) in combined investment for a 55 megawatt facility in Chennai and another NR 12 billion for a 36 megawatt data centre in Hyderabad.
In November, Blackstone launched its first wholly owned data centre platform in Asia, Lumina CloudInfra, with the regional initiative planned to deliver around 600 megawatts across cities including Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune and Noida.
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