Realty major DLF will invest around Rs 130 crore over the next 18 months to develop a data centre in Noida as it seeks to encash rising demand for data storage capacity.

The data centre project will have 3.7 lakh sq ft space with proper infrastructure, including high power capacity, according to sources.

The data centre will be part of a 25-acre commercial project that has total development potential of 35-40 lakh sq ft.

DLF has leased built-to-suit data centre project to Singapore-based ST Telemedia Global Data Centres, the sources said.

The total investment to build this data centre is estimated at around Rs 130 crore, they said, adding that the centre would get completed in the next 18 months.

When contacted, DLF”s Managing Director (Rental Business) Sriram Khattar declined to comment on individual leasing deals, citing clients confidentiality.

DLF spokesperson also refused to comment.

Of late, real estate developers are entering into development of data centres to diversify their portfolio.

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Data centres are gradually becoming a separate real estate asset class like co-working, co-living and warehousing segments.

Recently, Hiranandani Group firm Yotta Infrastructure laid the foundation of a 20-acre data centre park in Greater Noida. It plans to invest Rs 6,000-Rs 7,000 crore in this facility.

India currently has around 126 third-party data centres (colocation or hyperscale) spanning 7.5+ million sq ft and a cumulative IT power capacity of 590+ MW.