Ashish Arora, CEO of Nxtra by Airtel, speaks to BW Businessworld’s Rohit Chintapali about how the company is scaling AI-ready data centre infrastructure across India, its plan to expand capacity from 300 MW to 1 GW, and why connectivity, power reliability and sustainability will define the next phase of India’s data centre and AI growth. Excerpts:
How is Nxtra embedding itself in India’s AI journey, particularly in terms of AI-ready data centre infrastructure, power density and connectivity?
At Nxtra, we have built one of India’s most advanced and sustainable data centre networks, designed to meet the evolving needs of enterprises, hyperscalers and government as they embrace AI at scale. We are deeply focusing on creating a future ready, AI optimised infrastructure that is intelligent through innovative design, sustainable by deliberate choice, and deeply integrated with Airtel’s industry-leading digital networks.
On AI ready infrastructure and power density, we are significantly stepping up investments to scale from nearly 300 MW today to 1 GW over the next few years. Our new campuses are being purpose-built as hyperscale, high density facilities with robust power and cooling infrastructure to support AI and ML workloads, large model training, and inference at scale. All our upcoming hyperscale facilities are being built to a minimum IGBC or LEED Gold green building standard, because energy and resource efficiency should be baked into design from day one. We are also the first data centre company in India to deploy AI within our operations, enabling predictive maintenance, energy efficiency automation, and optimised capital utilisation, initially at our Chennai facility and now being rolled out across all core facilities.
What really differentiates us is our connectivity strength. Nxtra is tightly woven into Airtel’s pan India fibre, 5G and edge network, as well as its global submarine cable systems, giving customers low latency access from edge to core to cloud. This allows us to offer AI ready data centres that are not just high density boxes, but part of a unified digital infrastructure fabric, from 120 plus edge sites to large core campuses, that can move and process data securely and at scale for AI workloads across India and beyond.
Finally, we are doing all this in a way that is responsible and future proof. We have committed to becoming net zero by 2031 and are significantly increasing our share of renewable energy through long term green power agreements and captive projects. In FY25, we sourced 49 per cent of the total electricity consumption across our core data centres from renewable sources and became the first data center company in India to join the global RE100 initiative, committing to 100 per cent renewable electricity across all our operations.
How do you assess the current policy and regulatory momentum supporting data centre growth in India?
I would say the policy and regulatory momentum is constructive and moving in the right direction. The government clearly recognises that data centres are foundational to India’s digital economy, and we are seeing supportive state policies around land, power, and permissions in key hubs, as well as in emerging locations. There is also a strong push to position India as a global data hub, with long-term policy intent and discussions such as tax benefits extending up to 2047 for data centres serving global demand.
From our standpoint, this gives us the confidence to lean in and invest ahead of the curve. We have already announced significant capex to scale our data centre footprint and are actively acquiring land and building capacity in strategic locations to support India’s growing cloud and AI workloads.
There is, of course, more that can be done to accelerate renewable energy integration, but the direction of travel is very clear. India is fast becoming a strategic global hub for digital infrastructure, and the current policy push is aligned with this ambition. At Nxtra, we are working towards bringing this ambition to life with discipline, building a world class, sustainable data center network that supports this vision.
What are the key challenges the industry continues to face, whether around power availability, sustainability, land, or execution, and how can these be addressed?
Data centres are a very exciting space, but it is also execution heavy. The three big challenges for the industry are predictable access to power, availability of the right kind of land in the right locations, and the ability to execute large, complex projects on time. Power remains one of the biggest constraints, one that cannot be easily engineered around at the data centre level. However, it is important to note that power generation itself is not the fundamental challenge; rather, the constraint lies in the availability, accessibility, and delivery of power within specific data centre zones. AI and GenAI workloads are far more power-intensive than traditional cloud compute, and with data centres operating round the clock, local grid capacity and reliability must scale in tandem. The way forward lies in strengthening last-mile infrastructure, building closer utility partnerships, enabling faster provisioning in high-demand zones, and continuing policy support for renewables. With the right energy strategy, AI-scale expansion and decarbonisation can progress together without compromising sustainability.
Land is the second piece. You need large parcels in well-connected urban or edge locations, with access to fibre, power, and clear approvals. However, delays often arise due to pre-construction approvals and multi-layered clearance processes. This requires more streamlined and thoughtful planning with state governments and local bodies, so data centres are recognised as critical infrastructure, enabling faster pre-construction clearances, reduced approval timelines, and a stable policy regime.
Finally, execution capability is key. These are complex, capital intensive builds that need high quality design, strong partners and very tight project management. At Nxtra, we are leaning into these challenges by planning ahead on land banks, locking in green power, and building a repeatable playbook for campus and edge roll outs, so we can scale to 1GW with discipline while staying true to our sustainability commitments. |
