In a major boost for India's digital infrastructure, Australia-based data centre operator AirTrunk has announced plans to invest $21.05 billion in a 3 gigawatt data centre project near Mumbai. The company signed a letter of intent with the Maharashtra government for land allotment at the Raigad-Pen Growth Centre.

The announcement was made by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in a post on X, after meeting AirTrunk CEO Robin Khuda. The project, valued at approximately rupees 2 lakh crore, is being seen as one of the largest single data centre investments in India to date.

A strategic location and global backing

The facility will come up in the Raigad-Pen Growth Centre, on the outskirts of Mumbai — India's financial capital. With a planned capacity of 3 GW, it would rank among the largest data centre sites globally.

AirTrunk is backed by the US-based investment firm Blackstone. The company already operates data centres across Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore, and its entry into India marks a notable expansion of its Asia footprint.

India as a rising data centre hub

India is rapidly emerging as a major destination for data centre and AI infrastructure investments. Tax incentives for foreign firms operating domestic data centres have been a key driver. According to industry estimates, more than $630 billion in investments from US technology companies is expected to flow into India this year.

The country's largest conglomerates are also ramping up their commitments in the sector. Reliance Industries and the Adani Group have announced approximately $110 billion and $100 billion in planned investments respectively, towards AI and digital infrastructure projects.

Why this matters

Data centres are the physical backbone of the digital economy — the buildings full of servers that power cloud services, AI models, streaming platforms and enterprise systems. A 3 GW facility is large by any measure; for comparison, India's entire existing data centre capacity is estimated at well under 2 GW.

If executed at the announced scale, the AirTrunk project would significantly expand India's data hosting capacity and reduce its reliance on overseas providers for cloud and AI workloads.

The road ahead

The letter of intent is a starting point rather than a final agreement. Land allotment, environmental clearances, power-supply arrangements and construction will all need to be navigated before the project becomes operational. Industry observers note that data centre rollouts of this scale typically unfold in phases over several years.

For Maharashtra — and India more broadly — the announcement signals continued investor confidence in the country as a destination for large-scale digital infrastructure. Whether the project meets its full $21 billion and 3 GW ambition will depend on execution over the coming years.