India’s data centre and cloud ecosystem is set to become the backbone of the country’s $1.46 trillion digital economy by FY30, according to a report by Equirus Capital. The study highlights how colocation and cloud services are enabling scalable, secure digital infrastructure for enterprises, hyperscalers, and government initiatives under India’s $1 trillion Digital Economy Mission. 

The digital ecosystem rests on five key layers — hardware infrastructure, foundational AI models, real-world AI applications, data centres and hyperscalers, and data governance. Among these, data centres and cloud platforms are driving capacity creation and economic acceleration. 

India’s data centre capex is projected to rise from Rs 175 billion in 2024 to Rs 575 billion by 2030, reflecting a 23 per cent CAGR. Despite this expansion, demand continues to outpace supply — capacity rose 50 per cent from 75 MW to 114 MW in a year, while demand surged over 50 per cent from 81 MW to 122 MW. 

Key growth drivers include exponential data consumption, rapid enterprise cloud adoption, policy support under Digital India, and data localisation mandates. Generative AI, IoT, and edge computing are also contributing to rising processing and storage needs. 

Emerging players such as Adani Connex, Nxtra, and Yotta are expected to lead capacity additions, contributing around 860 MW to India’s growing base of 1.3 GW, taking total installed capacity beyond 2.9 GW.