Growth potential in emerging asset class – Data centres

India has seen increased quantum of digitization and a gradual shift to on-line over the recent past. The data generated by these processes needs to be stored; this created a huge demand for data centres. Initially, a large quantum of Indian data was being stored across global data centres in other countries; the Government of India brought in regulations including data protection, data localization and data privacy, which opened up the domestic data centre market.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting lock-downs created an explosion in terms of digital and on-line, driving huge quantum of data usage. India shifted to ‘work from home’ mode, as also virtual, streaming and remote working via digital mode. Banking, entertainment and education also shifted to the on-line mode. These are the key reasons which have caused the demand for data centre business to expand exponentially in India.

I would like to add here that the ambitious campaign by the Government of India, ‘Digital India’ aligns with the futuristic goals of the Indian economy. The young demographic will witness the young human resources gaining employment by adapting to technical advancement and digital mode of working, living and entertainment. Technology has become an integral part of India’s way of living, we find it embedded in routine activities like working, entertainment and consumption of goods and services, be it e-commerce, tele-medicine, online education etc. All these will enhance the quantum of data, effectively increasing business for data centres.