It’s been only a matter of days since Equinix announced plans to expand into Chile and Peru through its acquisition of four data centres from Entel for US$705 million. Now the digital infrastructure company is growing its presence in India.
Equinix has reportedly invested $9 million to acquire about 5.5 acres of land in Chennai, South India, for data centre development on what is described as a long-term leasehold basis for expansion in the country.
The land parcel is located in the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu Ltd (SIPCOT) IT Park. The company says it is “strategically located in the Siruseri area, also known as the IT Corridor of Chennai”.
In August last year we reported that Equinix had announced its expansion into India through the acquisition of the Indian operations of GPX Global Systems, a provider of next-generation, Tier 4 design, carrier-neutral data centres to developing global markets.
Then, in November, Equinix announced the opening of its Global Centre of Excellence (GCoE) in Bengaluru, the capital of India's southern state Karnataka. The GCoE will, it says, contribute to the development of innovative, automated and scalable digital technologies to improve the digital infrastructure resilience of its customers and employees.
The latest initiatives clearly underline the attractiveness of India, which has been further boosted since data centre development was made easier. Chennai in particular is an attractive area, offering a strategic location, access to subsea cable landing stations, stable power supply and thriving IT infrastructure.
Or, as Manoj Paul, MD, Equinix India, says, quoted in India’s Economic Times: “With the infrastructure status for data centres recently announced by the Indian government, India is well positioned to grow as one of the most important data centre hubs in South Asia. There is a lot of momentum and interest from large global players to establish and expand their footprint in India.”
