India’s Data Centre Boom: 3,860 MW Pipeline Signals New Infrastructure Race

India’s data-centre industry is entering a major expansion phase, with 3,860 MW of additional capacity in the development pipeline through 2030, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s India Data Centre H1 2026 Update.

The latest data shows that India’s seven major data-centre markets added 178 MW of new capacity during the first half of 2026, taking operational capacity to 1,789 MW. Of the 3,860 MW pipeline, 509 MW is already under construction, while another 3,351 MW is in the planning stage.

The expansion is being driven by several structural changes in India’s digital economy. Rapid cloud adoption, artificial intelligence workloads, enterprise digitisation and rising data consumption are increasing demand for computing and storage infrastructure.

Cushman & Wakefield estimates that India will require around $29.9 billion in development capital for data centres through 2030. The country is already the third-largest data-centre market in the Asia-Pacific region by operational capacity, with capacity having grown substantially from roughly 400 MW in 2019 to nearly 1.8 GW in H1 2026.

Mumbai remains the country’s largest data-centre market. It currently has around 890 MW of operational capacity and another 1,726 MW in upcoming supply, giving it the largest development pipeline among India’s major markets.

However, the next phase of growth is spreading beyond Mumbai. Hyderabad has 151 MW of operational capacity and 710 MW of upcoming supply, while Chennai has 214 MW operational and 368 MW in the pipeline. Delhi-NCR has 183 MW operational capacity and another 387 MW of upcoming supply. Pune, Bengaluru and Kolkata are also seeing continued expansion.

The geographic diversification is important because data centres depend on more than just demand. Reliable electricity, land availability, fibre connectivity, cooling infrastructure and proximity to major enterprise and consumer markets all influence where facilities can be developed.

Artificial intelligence is adding another layer to this infrastructure requirement. AI training and inference workloads can require significantly greater computing capacity than many conventional digital services. The emergence of AI-focused infrastructure is therefore expected to increase demand for high-density computing facilities and supporting power infrastructure.

Cushman & Wakefield has also identified Visakhapatnam as an emerging destination for AI-focused data-centre investment. This suggests that India’s digital infrastructure map could broaden further as developers look for locations offering suitable power, connectivity and land availability.

The numbers also highlight the scale of investment required. Across the Asia-Pacific region, data-centre capacity is projected to increase 2.7 times by 2030, with more than $280 billion in capital expenditure expected across the sector. India is projected to account for a meaningful share of that investment.

For India’s infrastructure sector, the data-centre boom is therefore becoming more than a technology story. It is increasingly linked to power generation, transmission, real estate, fibre networks, construction, cooling systems and urban infrastructure.

With nearly 3.9 GW of additional capacity planned or under construction, India’s data-centre market is entering a period in which digital infrastructure could become an increasingly important component of the country’s broader infrastructure investment cycle.