India’s Digital Economy is set to scale new heights, with Data Centres and Cloud Platforms playing a pivotal role in powering its $1 trillion journey by FY30, according to a report by Mumbai-based Equirus Capital.

Positioned as the backbone of the $1 trillion Digital Economy Mission, the Colocation and Cloud Services segment is enabling secure, scalable infrastructure for enterprises, hyperscalers, and government bodies. With capex in data centres projected to grow at a 23% CAGR—from ₹175 billion in 2024 to ₹575 billion by 2030—the sector is witnessing unprecedented demand, outpacing supply despite rapid capacity expansion.

Data centres and cloud platforms form the backbone of India’s fast-growing Digital Economy, which is expected to reach $1460 Bn by FY30.

The Foundation of 1Tn $ Digital Economy

1. Hardware Infrastructure: Focuses on semiconductors and electronics manufacturing

2. The Foundational Model Layer: Focuses on AI model development

3. The Application Layer: Focuses on real-world AI adoption

4. The Data Centre & Hyperscaler Layer: Focuses on physical & cloud infrastructure

5. The Data Layer: Focuses on data governance, digitization, and quality

Significant data centre capex

India is poised for significant data centre capacity expansion driven by large investments, yet demand continues to outpace supply. The capex will likely grow from INR 175 bn to INR 575 bn, thereby registering a growth of 23% CAGR from 2024 to 2030.

Despite this high supply of data centre, the demand seems to outpacing supply. In the past one year, the supply has risen from 75 MW to 114 MW, almost a 50% addition, then the demand has risen from 81 MW to 122 MW, an increase of over 50%.

Key factors driving growth in India’s Data centre & Cloud Computing market are

Explosion of Data Consumption

* India’s data usage per user is among the highest globally,

* 5G data usage is expected to grow 10x to 310 Exabytes in 2026

* Driven by video streaming, gaming, fintech, and IoT

Enterprise Cloud Adoption

* Corporates shifting from on-premise IT to cloud (IaaS, PaaS,

* SaaS) for scalability, flexibility, and cost efficiency

* Projections suggest the broader India cloud computing market will reach $48.8 billion by 2034, growing at ~17.2% CAGR

Policy & Regulatory Support

* Digital India & $1T Digital Economy Mission

* Data Localization Mandates: RBI & Data Protection laws requiring storage of sensitive data (financial, personal, healthcare) within India

AI & Emerging Tech Workloads

* Generative AI, ML, IoT, and edge computing creating unprecedented demand for processing power and storage

Emerging players

Adani, Nxtra, and Sify will likely emerge as leading players in the DC industry. More than 1.6GW of capacity to be added to the existing 1.3GW capacity, with Adani Connex, Nxtra and Yotta to add c.860MW of capacity.