The is the company’s first data centre in India, and is expected to create around 400 jobs.
Techno Digital, a subsidiary of the Kolkata-based power-infrastructure company Techno Electric & Engineering, has launched its data centre at Sipcot IT Park in Chennai. This is the company’s first data centre in India, with another coming up in Kolkata, said Ankit Saraiya, Director & CEO of Techno Digital.
The company has invested around $160 to $170 million in the Chennai centre as part of its larger $1 billion investment across the country, he told businessline. “With the Chennai centre, we are creating direct and indirect jobs of close to about 200 to 250 in the first phase, which, by the time we have commissioned all four phases, will go up to about 400,” he added.
Saraiya added that Chennai, being the second-largest data centre market in India, was an ideal location for the company’s first project. The city has many cable landing stations and submarine cables that connect India to the global markets. Additionally, the raw talent and progressive policies of the State, along with the availability of 20-25 gigawatts of renewable power, made the city a perfect location, he said.
Power Efficient: –
The centre will have a capacity of 36 megawatts and will have a Power Usage Effectiveness (PSU) of 1.34, which, according to Saraiya, will make it one of the most power-efficient in the country. He added that the company aims to power the entire centre’s capacity using renewable energy within the next 3–4 years.
Speaking on future expansion plans, he said that Techno Digital has already started construction on a new data centre in Kolkata. The company has also entered into partnerships to jointly develop a hyperscale data centre in Noida and will also be setting up edge data centres in 102 cities across India, each with a half-megawatt capacity. These projects are expected to be operational within six to nine months.
Techno Digital targets a topline of $100 to $150 million in the next 4-5 years. For the current year, which will be its first year in operations, it expects revenues in the range of $3-$5million, Saraiya said.
This interview was featured in the Hindu Business Line.