The CEO of Blackstone’s Lumina CloudInfra data center platform told Reuters that Microsoft and Amazon are negotiating with Blackstone to develop Indian data centers to fulfill growing storage and processing demand. In addition, more people worked remotely and used social media, streaming platforms, and e-commerce due to COVID-19.
Anil Reddy, the global CEO of Lumina, which is owned and managed by Blackstone, said this generated a “data explosion” and made this the next major investment for the private equity firm in India.
Reddy is in negotiations with “hyperscalers,” including Microsoft (MSFT.O), Amazon (AMZN.O), Google (GOOGL.O), and Oracle (ORCL.N). “It’s like you want to do everything from your laptop or your handheld device,” he added.
Reddy said these organizations would account for two-thirds of Blackstone’s data center business in India, with the rest coming from banking, healthcare, and government.
Reddy said Blackstone aims to build 600 MW data centers in five Indian locations by 2030.
In the same interview, Lumina’s India CEO, Sujeet Deshpande, claimed that India’s data center benchmark is $6-$6.5 million per megawatt.
Blackstone’s idea comes as India seeks to attract more big-ticket investments and tighten Big Tech regulation by encouraging them to keep data locally. New Delhi is creating a cloud and data center policy to govern the sector.
Microsoft and Google have increased cloud investments in India, while Amazon’s cloud computing subsidiary said last week it will invest $13 billion in the South Asian economic powerhouse by 2030.
Reddy added, “We will be one of those who are capturing some of those dollars from there because we will have them as a customer,” when questioned about Amazon’s planned investment. No comment from Microsoft. Oracle, Amazon, and Google declined to comment.
Last month, property consultant JLL predicted India would install 678 MW of data centers between 2023 and 2025, requiring more than 9 million square feet of real estate at $4.8 billion.
According to Lumina’s Deshpande, India’s telecom boom and 5G’s spread have democratized the internet and broadband. However, he noted that data providers want services closer to their clients for a seamless experience.
