E-Paper
Equinix India buys 5597 sq m of land in Mumbai's Chandivali for ₹155 crore
US-headquartered digital infrastructure firm Equinix India Pvt Ltd had earlier announced an investment of $86 million to build a new data centre in Mumbai
US-headquartered data centre firm Equinix India Pvt Ltd has purchased 5,597 sq m (1.38 acres) of land in Mumbai's Chandivali area for ₹155 crore, according to the property registration documents accessed by CRE Matrix.
The land parcel has been purchased along with the building with a built up area of 5,386 sq m, according to the documents.
Overseas Packing Industries Pvt Ltd and Warden Hyforce Pvt Ltd are the sellers of the property. The transaction was registered on November 21, 2024.
The transaction involved a stamp duty of ₹10.56 crore, according to the documents.
Equinix India had in June 2022 announced an initial investment of $86 million to build a new data centre in Mumbai. The firm had acquired a four-acre land parcel in the city's Chandivali area.
The company had earlier said that the new data centre, to be named MB3, will be Equinix’s third such facility in Mumbai. MB3 IBX will be located adjacent to Equinix MB2 IBX and 1.5 km away from MB1 IBX data centre.
Chandivali is strategically located in the centre of the western and eastern suburbs due to which it enjoys good connectivity in the city. It is also located close to Powai that houses a number of international and domestic firms.
An email query sent to Overseas Packing Industries Pvt Ltd and Warden Hyforce Pvt Ltd did not get response.
“Today, Equinix operates 3 International Business Exchange (IBX) data centers in Mumbai, called MB1, MB2 and MB4. The recently acquired land is the location of one of our existing data centers, MB2. We will continue to invest in this market to support India’s growing digital economy,” Equinix India said in a statement.
“We have announced plans to build MB3. With an initial investment of US$86 million, MB3 will provide an initial capacity of more than 1,375 cabinets, and more than 4,150 cabinets when fully built out. We also announced our expansion in Chennai. We will invest US$65 million in the first phase, which will provide 850 cabinets, and a total site capacity of 4,950 cabinets when fully built,” the statement added.
Also Read: Mumbai real estate: Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd sells 20.5 acres land in Kandivali area for ₹210 crore
Mumbai a data centre hub in India
According to a report by Savills India, there was a 21% increase in the total data centre stock across the country in the first half of the year. Mumbai led the way with a substantial 54.9% share of the total capacity, followed by Chennai (12.3%), Bengaluru (8.2%) and Pune (7.2%).
Also Read: 21% growth in data centre stock in H1, Mumbai leads with majority share in total capacity
As per JLL, the data centre (DC) industry in India is set to witness remarkable growth, with projections of adding 791 MW capacity by 2026. This expansion will drive a demand for 10 million sq. ft. of real estate space, attracting investments worth $5.7 billion. It noted that Mumbai is expected to account for 4.41 mn sq ft of data centre space followed by Chennai at 2.89 mn sq ft and NCR at 0.66 mn sq ft.
In September 2024, Mindspace Business Parks REIT had announced that it has entered into a strategic partnership with Princeton Digital Group, a global leader in data center operations, to develop PDG’s flagship and largest data center campus in India, at Mindspace Airoli West in Navi Mumbai near Mumbai.
Under this new agreement, Mindspace REIT will develop three built-to-suit data centers, adding a further one million sq ft to its portfolio. The REIT has already developed two data centers for PDG, measuring 0.63 million sq ft, the company had said.
Over 100 land deals spanning approximately 1,700 acres were closed across six major cities in India between January-September 2024 , according to a report released by property consultancy CBRE on October 22.
Data centers emerged as a significant asset class in the nine-month period, accounting for a 6% share in overall deal volume spread over more than 140 acres, the report noted.
