Nxtra commences construction of its largest data centre in India

Author: Beatrice

Nxtra Data has begun the construction of its new hyperscale data centre in Kolkata. The company will invest Rs 600 Cr in the development of the largest data centre in East India, which will serve the underserved markets of East and Northeast regions along with the SAARC countries and fulfil the growing needs of enterprises and global cloud players.

The ceremony was attended by Shri Babul Supriyo, Honourable Minister for Information Technology, Electronics and Tourism, Government of West Bengal; Shri Debashis Sen, IAS (Retd), Managing Director, West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (WBHIDCO); Shri Rajeev Kumar, Principal Secretary of Information Technology and Electronics Department; and Rajesh Tapadia, Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer, Nxtra by Airtel.

The 25MW facility will be built in New Town, Kolkata and will be fully operational by 2024. In line with the company’s commitment to environment and its ambition to reach net zero by 2031, the new centre will be a green facility, sourcing clean energy for running its operations. Once up and running, it will be Nxtra’s first large-scale facility in east India, in addition to its already existing 12 large and 120 edge facilities across India. The new centre will further cement Nxtra’s position as the nation’s largest network of data centres.

“Nxtra and Airtel are delighted to partner West Bengal in its digital-first economy agenda and would like to thank the state government for its unflinching support. The new facility will be one of the largest data centres in East India and will be the gateway to serving customers in and around the eastern region and the SAARC countries. We are investing extensively in green energy and our state-of-the-art, carrier-neutral, hyperscale Kolkata data centre will run on renewable source of energy,” says Rajesh Tapadia, Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer, Nxtra by Airtel.

Nxtra by Airtel is on an expansion spree and will invest over Rs 5000 cr over the next four years to expand its capacity by three times to over 400MW. The company has already invested and partnered with eight organisations to source more than 180,000MWh of renewable energy. Nxtra is aiming to reach net zero by 2031.