As the demand for digital solutions and cloud computing services continues to rise, we have also witnessed a corresponding growth of the data centre industry in India in 2023. Significant developments in 2023 like the Digital Personal Data Protection Act have placed the onus on companies to invest in data centres and data processing activities in India. Even though smartphone sales remained flat in 2023, usage of cloud services has remained relatively high. This has resulted in a growing demand for colocation and edge data centres that are capable of faster delivery of content due to their proximity to its consumer base.

On the enterprise side, the development of all kinds of Large Language Models and Generative AI updates has garnered much attention for its potential as well as its reliance on high-performance computing systems. Hyperscale data centres with their massive processing power are being deployed in India to cater to this demand as well. Since such facilities are resource intensive, 2023 has also been about sustainability practises and the deployment of ‘green’ data centres that rely on renewable sources of energy and intelligent optimisation techniques that can help minimize their carbon footprint. The government is also playing a role here by providing incentives for the implementation of sustainable practices.

This year, I expect more investments to pour into creating data centres, especially in Tier-2 and -3 cities to cater to a growing consumer base that has connectivity but lacks quality service experience.

Views expressed by Amit Agrawal, Chief Business Officer, Web Werks – Iron Mountain Data Centers