GoDaddy Looks To Set Up Data Centres In India

In a bid to help clients to comply with data-localisation norms, US-based digital services provider GoDaddy is planning to open data centres in India. Currently, the data centres of GoDaddy are located in Singapore.

Nikhil Arora, managing director of GoDaddy India, told ET that the company is planning to set up data centres in India to come closer to Indian customers. “Some customers prefer local presence,” he added.

According to Arora, GoDaddy is focusing on becoming a trusted partner of influencers and professionals like web designers in India. Moreover, for GoDaddy, setting up local centres in India can also be seen as a result of the increased number of users of GoDaddy coming from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.

The company is also focusing on introducing India-specific web hosting packages to woo customers in the country. Additionally, it is also planning to help small and medium businesses to set up their businesses online. GoDaddy claims that the Indian business of the company has doubled over the last three years.

GoDaddy also believes that setting up data centres in India will also help government authorities fighting cybercrime to get crucial information in a short span of time.

Is Data Localisation Required?

GoDaddy’s decision came amid the ongoing debate in the country over data localisation. The Indian government recently introduced Personal Data Protection Bill in the Lok Sabha, Lower House of the Parliament. According to the Bill, the government has made it mandatory for all companies to store personal data of their users on servers based in India.

However, many stakeholders have raised their voices against the government’s bid to data localisation. A recent LocalCircles survey highlighted that Indian startups, which shift their base out of India because of the dearth of resources in the country, should be allowed to share data with their overseas entities.

The survey also said that the bill will discourage foreign countries to acquire Indian companies as they would like to access their data from international servers as well.

Moreover, Justice BN Srikrishna, who led the panel which formulated the personal data protection framework, had also said that this bill is unconstitutional as it overrides all other laws in the country.

On the other hand, companies such as Paytm, Wipro, Reliance have been backing the government on data localisation norms. The global card payment network Visa, in December 2019, said that it will soon comply with data localisation norms. The company plans to locally process all transactions through its data centre in Bengaluru and a backup centre in Mumbai.