Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL), the flagship company of the Adani Group, has unveiled an ambitious $5 billion investment plan to dramatically expand its data centre operations over the next five years. The initiative will be executed through AdaniConneX, a joint venture with EdgeConneX, which is owned by Swedish investment firm EQT.
According to sources familiar with the matter, more than half of this substantial investment could be deployed in 2025 alone, with approximately 25% coming from promoter equity infusions. The company has set an aggressive target to develop 1 GW of data centre capacity by 2030, a massive scaling up from its current operational capacity of 17 MW at its Chennai facility.
To finance this expansion, AdaniConneX is in advanced discussions with several international banking giants to secure an offshore loan of $1.2-1.4 billion. The loan, expected to be finalized within two weeks, will likely have a five-year maturity period. Leading global financial institutions involved in the negotiations include Standard Chartered Bank, ING Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), and MUFG Bank.
The timing of this expansion is particularly strategic, as India’s data centre industry stands at a crucial juncture. Despite generating 20% of global data, the country currently hosts only 3% of global data centre capacity. Industry forecasts suggest India’s data centre capacity will double from 0.9 GW in 2023 to 2 GW by 2026, driven by increasing data localization requirements. This growth is expected to require a capital expenditure of approximately $6 billion over the next three years.
AdaniConneX has already demonstrated its commitment to growth through recent strategic moves. In June 2023, the company secured $213 million through a debt facility to finance data centre construction in Noida and Chennai. Following this, in August 2023, the company acquired two wholly owned subsidiaries of Adani Power for approximately $65 million.
The company’s expansion strategy aligns with the rapid growth of AI-led businesses and has gained additional momentum following a recent Supreme Court ruling that cleared the Adani Group of allegations made by US-based Hindenburg Research. AdaniConneX has also strengthened its market position by securing long-term contracts ranging from 5 to 15 years with global technology giants.
Currently, AdaniConneX operates data centres across multiple Indian cities, including Chennai, Noida, Mumbai, Pune, and Vizag. While the Chennai 1 campus provides colocation services to enterprises, the Noida facility is being developed with a 50 MW capacity specifically to support hyperscale customers’ expansion needs.
This significant investment underscores the Adani Group’s commitment to establishing itself as a major player in India’s rapidly growing digital infrastructure sector, positioning the company to capitalize on the country’s burgeoning data centre demands.
