Small towns, big compute: Data centre investors look beyond India’s metros

The high energy demands of AI chips are pushing data centre investors to look beyond India’s metro hubs and tap into the country’s hinterland.

Sify Technologies, CtrlS Datacenters, ESDS Software Solutions, RackBank and others are shifting focus from traditional locations such as Mumbai, Chennai and Noida. Instead, cities like Nagpur, Raipur, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Lucknow and Kochi are emerging as attractive alternatives offering better returns.

State governments are actively incentivizing this shift with land subsidies, single-window…