Reliance Partners Brookfield, Digital Realty To Set Up Data Centres In India

Nita Ambani Resigns From RIL’s Board; Isha, Akash, Anant Ambani Proposed As Non-Exec Directors

SUMMARY

RIL has signed an agreement with both the companies to become an equal partner in their joint venture by acquiring a 33.33% stake in their Indian SPVs

The JV is currently developing data centres in Chennai and Mumbai, with its first 20 MW greenfield data centre expected to be completed by the end of 2023

A number of companies frome the Adani Group to the Hiranandani Group are setting up data centres in India as their demand is expected to continue to grow in the country

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has partnered with Brookfield Infrastructure and Digital Realty to set up data centres in India.

Brookfield and Digital Realty have set up special purpose vehicles (SPVs) in India for setting up data centres. RIL has signed an agreement with both the companies to become an equal partner in their joint venture (JV) by acquiring a 33.33% stake in their Indian SPVs, a statement said.

As per an exchange filing, RIL will invest an aggregate amount of INR 378 Cr in the SPVs. “The company has also committed to invest further amounts in equity and debt securities of the Indian SPVs and any other new SPV that may be set up by Mercury India SG FDI Pte. Ltd. up to an amount not exceeding Rs. 622 crore, as and when calls are made,” the filing said.

Mercury Holdings SG Pte. Ltd is a 50:50 joint venture between Brookfield and Digital Realty, while Mercury India SG FDI Pte. Ltd is the wholly-owned subsidiary of Mercury Holdings, which owns five Indian SPVs.

Following the fund infusion by RIL, the JV will be rebranded as ‘Digital Connexion: A Brookfield, Jio and Digital Realty Company’.

The JV is currently developing data centres in Chennai and Mumbai, with its first 20 MW greenfield data centre, coming up on a 100 MW campus in Chennai, expected to be completed by the end of 2023, RIL said in the statement.

“The JV will be well positioned to serve global and local enterprises, SMBs and the vibrant startups of India, for their cloud and colocation requirements as they move their compute resources on the cloud and off-premise,” the statement said.

Commenting on the development, Kiran Thomas, CEO of Jio Platforms, which houses RIL’s digital businesses, said, “The partnership will help us serve our enterprise and SMB clients with cutting-edge, plug-and-play solutions delivered from the cloud and lead their digital transformation and make them more competitive and efficient.”

Data Centres Get Big Investments

With rising internet penetration and cloud adoption in India, data centre facilities are on the rise in India. With increasing adoption of 5G, the demand is expected to go up further. As a result a number of big players across sectors have lined up to invest in data centres in India.

Earlier this year, it was reported that Blackstone was in talks with Microsoft and Amazon to build data centres in India.

Last year, a PhonePe official said that the fintech unicorn was looking to invest $200 Mn in India to build data centres. Others like the Adani Group and the Hiranandani Group have also entered the space to make the most of this opportunity.

As per a report, the number of data centres in India would soar to 183 by 2025, spread across 25 Mn sq ft. of area.