India’s data centre capacity additions surged 59% in H1

India's data center market experienced a significant surge in capacity additions during the first half of 2026, climbing 59% year-over-year to reach 258 MW IT. Absorption also saw robust growth, increasing by 31% to 278 MW IT.

Mumbai and Chennai emerged as the leading markets, collectively capturing 64% of the total absorption. Mumbai's demand was a mix of large enterprise and hyperscaler clients, while Chennai's absorption was exclusively driven by hyperscalers. This concentration highlights the dominant role of these two cities in India's expanding data infrastructure.

Hyperscalers continued to be the primary drivers of demand, accounting for over 80% of the total absorption in the first half of the year. The market also witnessed reasonable absorption in edge data centers located in Tier-II cities. Growing demand from sectors such as BFSI, e-commerce, manufacturing, and Global Capability Centers (GCCs) further underscores the market's expansion.

Reflecting this strong growth momentum, over 120 acres of land were transacted for data center development in the first half of 2026. The increasing enterprise reliance on cloud services, coupled with the influence of AI-related workloads and supportive government policies, continues to fuel the steady growth of India's data center sector.