Home / Business and Economy / Airtel's Nxtra Secures $1B for Gigawatt Data Centers
Airtel's Nxtra Secures $1B for Gigawatt Data Centers
9 Mar
Summary
- Nxtra Data plans to raise $1 billion for gigawatt-scale data center expansion.
- Alpha Wave Global to invest $400 million as a new investor.
- Existing shareholders Airtel and Carlyle to contribute $300 million each.
Bharti Airtel's data center subsidiary, Nxtra Data, is planning a significant capital raise of $1 billion. This funding is earmarked for expanding its data center capacity to gigawatt scale. The company is bringing in Alpha Wave Global, an investment vehicle associated with Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, as a new investor, injecting $400 million.
Existing shareholders Bharti Airtel and Carlyle are also participating, contributing $300 million each through a combination of rights issue and preferential allotment. These funds will bolster Nxtra's position in India's competitive digital infrastructure market.
The capital infusion aligns with broader industry trends, including partnerships like Airtel's involvement in Google's AI hub in Visakhapatnam. Nxtra currently operates a substantial network of 14 core and 120 edge data centers across India, holding a 12% market share. The company aims to capture 25% of the market within the next three to four years, targeting a total capacity of 1 GW.
Driven by AI and evolving data protection laws, India's data center industry is attracting substantial investment. Global hyperscalers and Indian conglomerates are projected to invest over $270 billion in the coming years, significantly increasing the nation's data center capacity from its current 1.4 GW to approximately 10 GW. Supportive government policies further encourage this growth.
