Starting with a $2 billion investment to build one of the largest data centers in India, Singapore-based Digital Edge has entered into a partnership with NIIF (National Investment and Infrastructure Fund) and AGP (AGP DC InvestCo) to develop a pan-India portfolio of hyperscale data centers.
A greenfield 300MW hyperscale facility in Navi Mumbai, India’s largest hub for data centers, is the partnership’s first project. The new facility, one of India’s largest data centers, is designed to accommodate hyperscale installations and uses Digital Edge’s “state-of-the-art” engineering architecture to achieve industry-leading PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) and WUE (Water Usage Effectiveness).
The $2 billion data center campus will be erected across a 47-acre property in many phases beginning in early 2023. After it is finished, Digital Edge DC will completely operate and sell the data center.
“This project is another key milestone in our ongoing growth journey and adds breadth and depth to our regional platform which now spans 16 data centers across six Asian markets,” said Samuel Lee, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Digital Edge. “NIIF and AGP bring solid local know-how to our data center expertise, making a strong combination when it comes to executing the project at speed and to international standards. Our mission is to build the foundation for the world’s digital future, and we are excited to enter this dynamic market and contribute to India’s incredible digital transformation.”
Sustainable Focus
With the addition of India, Digital Edge’s data center platform will now serve six nations in Asia. AGP, a real assets manager with a sustainable emphasis, will contribute on-the-ground real estate development and construction knowledge. NIIF will draw on its local and operational expertise in creating platforms and its strong infrastructure investment experience.
Utilizing the partners’ expertise in developing renewable energy, the collaboration seeks to power its network of data centers mostly from renewable energy sources.
“Through this platform, NIIF aims to play a key role in building quality digital infrastructure to support the Government of India’s vision to transform the country into a global data center and cloud computing hub,” said Vinod Giri, Managing Partner of the NIIF’s infrastructure fund. “The platform resonates with NIIF’s investment philosophy of developing infrastructure at scale and partnering with large, credible, well-governed companies that want to expand into India. We are excited to partner with highly capable and experienced industry partners, Digital Edge and AGP, who have a track record of delivering similar large-scale projects across other countries in the region.”
AGP Sustainable Real Assets (AGP) is a worldwide asset development and investment management company that invests in, builds, and manages sustainable real estate and infrastructure. AGP, which has its headquarters in Singapore and offices in the UK, Europe, the US, India, and Australia, is currently developing 5,000MW of generation capacity and 22 million square feet of constructed space. AGP DC is the digital infrastructure platform for AGP, focused on creating and investing in digital infrastructure businesses and real assets that are vital to the emerging global digital economy.
“AGP is excited to be partnering with Digital Edge and NIIF for the build out of this new Indian data center platform,” said Ben Salmon, Founding Partner of AGP. “The collaboration of skill sets between the partners positions us well to support the much-needed expansion of India’s critical digital infrastructure and deliver to the high standards of hyperscale customers.”
