AirTrunk Unveils $30 Billion Investment Plan for 5 GWW AI Data Centre Expansion Across India

Blackstone-backed data centre operator AirTrunk announced on Friday that it plans to invest $30 billion in India by 2030, adding to a growing wave of investments aimed at expanding the country’s digital and AI infrastructure.

The Australian company said it will develop 5 gigawatts of new data centre capacity across India, making it one of the largest commitments to the nation’s rapidly growing infrastructure sector. AirTrunk entered the Indian market earlier this year through its acquisition of Lumina CloudInfra.

The investment highlights India’s rising importance as a hub for cloud computing and artificial intelligence infrastructure. According to research firm Bernstein, India’s data centre capacity is expected to increase from about 1.5 GWGW today to as much as 8 GWGW by 2030.

The Indian government has also introduced measures to attract investment. Earlier this year, New Delhi announced tax exemptions through 2047 for foreign cloud providers offering services overseas from Indian data centres.

AirTrunk has already begun laying the foundation for its expansion. Earlier this week, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said in a post on X that the state had exchanged a letter of intent for land allocation at the Raigad Pen Growth Centre. AirTrunk plans to build a 3 GW data centre project there, with an investment of around ₹2 trillion ($21 billion).

The company also has a development pipeline of approximately 600MW across Mumbai, Chennai, and Hyderabad.

AirTrunk has not disclosed whether the Raigad project will account for most of its planned 55 GWW capacity or whether additional large-scale developments are planned elsewhere in the country.

The announcement follows a meeting between AirTrunk CEO Robin Khuda and Narendra Modi. Modi said the investment would help strengthen India’s position as a global centre for cloud computing and AI.

AirTrunk joins a growing list of companies investing heavily in India’s technology infrastructure. Firms including Amazon, Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Uber have all announced major cloud and AI investments, while Indian companies such as Reliance Industries, Adani Group, and Tata Consultancy Services are expanding their own data centre operations.

However, industry experts note that data centres require significant amounts of electricity, water, and land. Deloitte estimates that data centre expansion across the Asia-Pacific region could require tens of terawatt-hours of additional electricity by the end of the decade.

Khuda said AirTrunk’s long-term investment strategy is supported by government backing, access to renewable energy, and India’s deep pool of technical talent, all of which are helping position the country as a major destination for AI infrastructure growth.