BAM Digital Realty’s First Greenfield Data Centre in Chennai Will Serve as the Connectivity Hub of South Asia – EQ Mag

MAA10 will provide opportunities for enterprises to scale their digital businesses and to access the vibrant connected data communities they seek on PlatformDIGITAL®

BAM Digital Realty, a joint venture between Digital Realty (NYSE: DLR) and Brookfield Infrastructure, today announced that construction of its first data centre facility in India is underway and on track to open later this year. The facility is part of a campus which is designed for a maximum capacity of 100 megawatts (MW) upon full buildout and is located on a 10-acre campus in Ambattur Industrial Estate, an important industrial and manufacturing hub located close to Chennai’s city centre, airport, and other major services. The first phase, MAA10, will offer 20MW critical capacity to support the growing demand for digital infrastructure in India.

Features of BAM Digital Realty’s first data centre campus in Chennai include:

• 100MW critical IT load upon full build out

• A full range of data centre solutions, from single cabinet to multi-megawatt, with access to PlatformDIGITAL® which enables connectivity to a rich data community of over 4,000 participants in 50+ metros across 27 countries on six continents

• Best in class health and safety standards

• TIA 942 Rated 3 featuring Digital Realty’s cutting-edge energy-efficient data centre design, excellent operating procedures and a highly repeatable Pervasive Data Centre Architecture™ (PDx) approach, allowing for tailored infrastructure deployments to meet business needs

• Industry-leading global sustainability standards that leverage Brookfield Renewable’s expertise to deliver access to green power and reduce the impact on the environment

The 10-acre site in Ambattur is an ideal site for BAM Digital Realty’s first data centre development in India, given the availability of the necessary power supply, high number of submarine cable landing stations in the local area, and the state government’s aspirations to make Chennai the top data centre destination in India.

BAM Digital Realty sees significant market opportunity in Chennai, an increasingly important data centre hub powering trade and economic growth in South Asia. Anchored by a wide range of industries – such as automotive, software services, medical tourism, manufacturing, and textiles – growth in Chennai is expected to flourish following the Tamil Nadu government’s plans to nurture the growth of knowledge-based industries, including information technology, electric vehicle manufacturing, and renewable energy, to achieve US$1 trillion gross state domestic product (GDSP) and $300 billion export revenue by 2030. The resultant scale and quantum of data generated from the growth of these industries is expected to drive a demand surge for data centre infrastructure in the city.

Seema Ambastha, Chief Executive Officer, BAM Digital Realty: “Our campus in Chennai is the beginning of our journey in India. We are committed to supporting the burgeoning digital ecosystem of the country with our state-of-the-art facility and Digital Realty’s global standards of excellence in service through world-class infrastructure, cutting-edge solutions, and proven experience of operating 300+ data centres globally. Our decision to start with Chennai is driven by the continuing rapid growth in the Indian data centre industry supporting the massive digital transformation that the country is experiencing. The promise of Chennai emerging as a new data centre hub is well supported by progressive policy impetus at both the central and state governments. We look forward to leading from the front as we expand in India with an unwavering commitment to a connected ecosystem and uninterrupted business continuity.”

Arpit Agrawal, Managing Director, Head of Infrastructure, India & Middle East, Brookfield Infrastructure Group: “With the launch of our first data centre, we start our journey to support the Digital India vision of the Indian government aimed at data inclusivity for all. We are excited to showcase our collective world-class development expertise to the Indian market and to be the data infrastructure provider of choice for our customers, commencing in Chennai, with further expansions planned across the country.”

Serene Nah, Managing Director and Head of Asia Pacific, Digital Realty: “I’m excited about the development of our first data centre in India, a fast-growing and important market. The Indian government’s extensive push to make India a hub for global data to support new technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning and analytics will only continue to accelerate the digital transformation of Indian enterprises. As a global data centre leader, we aim to provide India with true carrier-neutral data centre solutions to meet growing demand. I look forward to MAA10 becoming part of the Digital Realty global data centre network, broadening our global footprint to deliver the value of PlatformDIGITAL® to our customers globally and in India.”

About BAM Digital Realty

BAM Digital Realty, the joint venture between Brookfield Infrastructure and Digital Realty, designs, builds, owns, and operates high-quality, scalable data centre assets. Offering best-in-class cloud and colocation services, BAM Digital Realty serves as a hub connecting telecoms providers, customers and partners and is a key connectivity gateway to the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. As part of Digital Realty, customers have access to 50+ metros across six continents.

About Digital Realty

Digital Realty brings companies and data together by delivering the full spectrum of data centre, colocation and interconnection solutions. PlatformDIGITAL®, the Company’s global data centre platform, provides customers with a secure data meeting place and a proven Pervasive Datacentre Architecture™ (PDx) solution methodology for powering innovation and efficiently managing Data Gravity challenges. Digital Realty gives its customers access to the connected communities that matter to them with a global data centre footprint of 300+ facilities in 50+ metros across 27 countries on six continents.