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Global investment giant Blackstone is making bold strides in India’s digital infrastructure space. The firm will inject nearly Rs. 5,000 crore to develop a 60 megawatt (MW) data centre in Chandivali, part of Mumbai’s metropolitan region (MMR), through its India data-centre platform, Lumina CloudInfra.
Lumina, Blackstone’s platform for data-centre investments in India, has already acquired 3.8 acres in Chandivali for Rs. 475 crore, with the deal registered on September 19. The move reflects Blackstone’s ambition to scale its data centre presence across the country with this Chandivali project adding to its growing footprint.
With this latest project, Blackstone’s cumulative investment in India’s data-centre sector is expected to touch around Rs. 50,000 crore. On the global stage, Blackstone is already among the largest owners of data-centre assets.
Strategic rationale and sector tailwinds
The decision to push into 60 MW capacity in Mumbai is underpinned by rising demand driven by artificial intelligence, cloud computing and 5G expansion across India. The MMR region is a strategic hub given its connectivity and density of corporate users.
For Lumina, Chandivali presents an opportunity to anchor operations in a prime location. The site is expected to service both enterprise and hyperscale workloads, offering a mix of build, lease, and managed services.
Analysts say that India’s data-centre market is entering a rapid growth phase, with hyperscalers, telecom firms, and content providers all ramping up capacity. Blackstone is placing a significant bet on this trend by committing capital early and aggressively.
Execution, risks and outlook
The Rs. 5,000-crore outlay covers land acquisition, civil works, power and cooling infrastructure, redundancy systems, and connectivity. The multi-phase project is likely to span several years, with revenue streams kicking in as capacity is commissioned and leasing begins.
However, success would depend heavily on execution discipline. Key risks include rising input costs (steel, power, cooling), regulatory and permitting delays, grid reliability challenges, and margin pressure if demand growth slows.
Blackstone must also ensure robust contracts and client commitments before scale-up to avoid idle capacity. Given the capital intensity of such projects, cash flows only begin to materialize after commissioning and stable occupancy.
That said, the O&M phase offers potential for recurring revenue, giving some cushion beyond the build-out phase. The firm’s global experience in operating data centres gives it an edge in managing performance and uptime.
Bigger picture: India’s digital infrastructure push
India is witnessing a surge in data usage, cloud adoption, and AI workloads. According to industry projections, data centre capacity requirements are expected to scale exponentially over the coming 5 to 10 years.
Private capital inflows are essential to bridge the infrastructure gap. Blackstone’s bold investment signals confidence in India as a data centre destination. It could also spur competitive responses from other global and domestic investors.
Moreover, Mumbai, being a connectivity hub, is likely to see more such projects, which can help reduce latency, improve resilience, and decentralize data infrastructure from just a few metro centres.
If successful, the Chandivali facility will reinforce Lumina’s market positioning, attract high-value clients, and strengthen returns. It could also catalyze further rounds of investment across tier-1 and tier-2 cities.
Blackstone’s decision to back a 60 MW data centre with roughly Rs. 5,000 crore in Mumbai underlines its long view on India’s digital infrastructure potential. Execution will be critical, but the move likely fast-forwards competition and capacity expansion in India’s data centre landscape.
