India’s Data Centre Capacity Projecting to Surpass 3 GW by 2028 Amid Low Operational Costs
New Delhi, May 29, 2026: India’s data centre stock is projected to surpass 3 gigawatts (GW) by the end of 2028, driven by intense hyperscaler demand, rising artificial intelligence workloads, and the region’s lowest development constraints. According to CBRE’s 2026 Asia Pacific Data Centre Trends & Outlook, India has been elevated to a “Leading Market” in the APAC region, placing it alongside major hubs like Japan, Australia, South Korea, Mainland China, and Malaysia. The country’s total capacity reached approximately 1,700 MW at the end of 2025, with an additional 500 MW expected to come online through 2026, CBRE said in a press release.
CBRE’s scorecard, which evaluates regional markets on power constraints, construction costs, skilled labor shortages, and community risks, rated India “Low” across all categories, making it the only major APAC market to achieve this distinction. This structural advantage is fueling massive real estate activity, with Mumbai anchoring national capacity at over 800 MW and another 750 MW in the pipeline. Chennai, Hyderabad, and Delhi NCR are rapidly emerging as hyperscale destinations, while Bangalore remains the central hub for enterprise colocation.
The report also reveals that data centre investment in the APAC region hit a record $11.6 billion in 2025, with entity-level transactions reaching $8.3 billion as operators lean into capital recycling and fund management models to scale. “The combination of a low-bottleneck development environment, a rapidly expanding digital economy, and aggressive hyperscaler commitments positions India as one of the most compelling DC markets globally,” said Anshuman Magazine, Chairman & CEO – India, South-East Asia, Middle East & Africa, CBRE. “As AI workloads multiply and the demand base broadens beyond cloud to Neocloud, GCCs and enterprise users, we expect the country’s capacity trajectory to remain steep well beyond 2028.”
While hyperscalers still drive 50–55% of market activity—highlighted by cloud service providers securing over 300 MW in the first quarter—the occupier base is diversifying. Demand is expanding toward semiconductor companies, research firms, Global Capability Centres (GCCs), and specialized global neocloud providers targeting Tier I cities for GPU-as-a-Service (GPUaaS) operations. Concurrently, Tier II cities like Jaipur, Ahmedabad, and Lucknow are seeing increased visibility with the rollout of edge-style facilities and containerised data centres.
“While several large markets grapple with power constraints, rising construction costs and community resistance, India presents developers and investors with a combination of cost competitiveness, policy support and scalability,” said Ada Choi, CFA, Head of Asia Pacific Research, CBRE. “Paired with deepening demand across Tier I and Tier II cities, this underpins our confidence in the 3 GW milestone.”
