Colt DCS plans new data centre in Chennai to expand presence in Asia-Pacific

Colt Data Centre Services (Colt DCS) is expanding its presence to Southern India with the acquisition of a new 10-acre plot in Chennai. It plans to deliver a hyperscale data centre in the fast-growing digital hub of Ambattur, Chennai by 2027.

Chennai is India’s fifth largest city by GDP and population, has a large and quickly growing digital market with a goal to become a $1 trillion economy by 2030. With the country’s highest network speeds and serving as a major landing station for fibre networks, it directly connects India to the rest of the world. Colt DCS’ expansion to the region will support the rapid digitalisation of industries in the area by providing the IT power capacity, security and accessibility required for businesses looking to scale up their operations.

The new site builds on Colt DCS’ growth and will mark its 18th data centre globally, providing the infrastructure capacity for the rapid digitalisation of industry, mass cloud adoption and emerging technology such as AI. The plan also builds on Colt DCS’ presence in India following the phase one completion and first customer in its Mumbai data centre. The new site is set to deliver a minimum of 70 MW of IT capacity.

With the rapid growth of India’s digital market, having an experienced partner with a proven local track record in building large scale data centres, allows multinational organisations access to this new and competitive region. In common with other new Colt DCS data centre developments, the large-scale site will give customers a huge amount of capacity to grow into.

The site is set to be completed in 2027. Colt DCS is working with local contractors and supply chains to reduce the environmental impact of the scope 3 emissions and stimulate the economy of the surrounding area.

Richard Wellbrock, Chief Commercial Officer, at Colt DCS, said: “India’s digitisation efforts are accelerating, driving continued economic development. We view the Indian data centre market as a significant opportunity for growth and remain dedicated to supporting its development. The establishment of our new site in Chennai doubles our commitment to this market, enabling us to better facilitate the expansion of our customers into this thriving region”.

Pratap Mane, Country Head India, at Colt DCS, said: “Chennai has always been a strategically important location for us for our expansion plans in India, due to the presence of multiple cable landing stations and large enterprise businesses. We expect the demand for data centres to continue to grow exponentially with the increased digitisation, adoption of AI and cloud services in India. The Tamil Nadu State Government on its part has been very proactive and is keen to develop Chennai as the number one destination for data centres in India. Colt DCS will deliver this project with global standards, sustainable design and with a high build quality for our hyperscale & large enterprise clients.