India’s data centre capacity on track to reach 2 GW by year-end: CBRE
New Delhi, Oct 6 (TNT): India’s data centre market added around 130 MW of new capacity in the first half of 2026, with over 200 MW expected to become operational in the second half, according to a report by CBRE South Asia Pvt Ltd.
With the additional capacity, India’s total operational data centre capacity is on track to reach 2 GW by the end of 2026, CBRE said in its report titled Beyond Growth: India’s Rise Among APAC’s Leading Data Centre Markets.
Mumbai accounted for 94 per cent of the new capacity added during the first half of the year, retaining its position as the country’s leading data centre hub, the report said.
The sector attracted around USD 38 billion in investment commitments during H1 2026, taking cumulative commitments since 2021 to approximately USD 173 billion.
Hyperscale and colocation investments accounted for nearly 62 per cent of cumulative commitments during the period.
More than 15 per cent of the cumulative commitments from 2021 to H1 2026 were linked to artificial intelligence (AI), reflecting the growing role of AI-driven demand in the sector, it said.
CBRE Chairman and CEO, India, South-East Asia, Middle East and Africa, Anshuman Magazine said India’s data centre sector was scaling at a pace few markets in the region could match.
“Touching 2 GW of installed capacity by the end of this year would be a significant milestone, but what stands out is the discipline behind this growth,” he said.
India has moved from the ‘High Growth Market’ category to the ‘Leading Data Centre Markets’ category in the Asia Pacific region in 2026, joining Japan, Australia and Mainland China, according to the report.
Data centres ranked as the fourth most preferred asset class in CBRE’s 2026 Asia Pacific Investor Intentions Survey, reflecting continued investor interest in the sector.
The share of Tier IV data centres in India’s overall supply increased to 43 per cent in H1 2026 from 21 per cent in 2024, indicating the growing sophistication of the country’s data centre infrastructure.
Multi-city portfolios accounted for more than 85 per cent of investment commitments in H1 2026.
Domestic investors accounted for 38 per cent of cumulative capital deployed since 2021, followed by investors from the United States at 27 per cent.
Domestic developers accounted for 48 per cent of new capacity added in H1 2026, ahead of American players at 28 per cent and European developers at 24 per cent.
Navi Mumbai in Maharashtra and Siruseri in Chennai continued to account for a significant share of new activity, supported by factors including multiple cable landing stations, government policies and established financial ecosystems.
These locations have emerged as preferred destinations for banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) institutions, cloud service providers, government entities and technology and media companies, including over-the-top (OTT) platforms, the report said.
More than 80 per cent of India’s operational data centre capacity remains concentrated in Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi-NCR.
However, the report expects incremental capacity to increasingly spread to secondary and emerging hubs, supported by the availability of land, power and water.
CBRE Managing Director, Leasing Services, India, Ram Chandnani said the data centre supply pipeline reflected sustained demand from BFSI, cloud, hyperscale and OTT occupiers, particularly in Mumbai and Chennai.
He said the next phase of growth was expected to extend to emerging hubs such as Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Visakhapatnam, supported by improving infrastructure and state-level incentives.
