Indian mobile giant Airtel raises $1 billion for data centers from Carlyle, major PE firms

Bharti Airtel, a leading telecom operator in India, has successfully secured $1 billion in funding for its data center division, Nxtra Data. This significant investment comes from prominent private equity firms, including Alpha Wave Global, Carlyle, and Anchorage Capital, highlighting the growing global enthusiasm for data center infrastructure. Upon finalizing the deal, Nxtra Data's valuation is expected to reach approximately $3.1 billion. The funding breakdown reveals that Alpha Wave Global will contribute $435 million, Carlyle will inject $240 million, and Anchorage Capital will add $35 million, with Airtel covering the remaining balance. This influx of capital is intended to fuel Nxtra's expansion throughout India. Gopal Vittal, Airtel's executive vice chairman, emphasized that Nxtra has developed robust data center networks designed to cater to the dynamic requirements of enterprises, hyperscalers, and government entities. Currently, Nxtra boasts around 300 megawatts (MW) of data center capacity, with plans to increase this to 1 gigawatt (GW) within a few years, aiming for a market share of approximately 25%. The company currently operates 14 large data centers and over 120 smaller facilities strategically located near end users. The demand for data centers has surged globally, primarily driven by the exponential growth of AI workloads that necessitate substantial computing, electrical, and networking resources. A staggering $61 billion is projected to flow into the data center market by 2025. Navroz D. Udwadia, co-founder of Alpha Wave Global, pointed out that India presents tremendous opportunities in the AI sector, as users actively engage with platforms like ChatGPT and Claude. To meet the escalating demand from hyperscalers and large language models, India's data center capacity must expand significantly. Global interest in India's data center industry is on the rise, particularly due to the increasing AI workloads. Recently, Microsoft and Amazon pledged over $50 billion towards India's cloud and AI infrastructure, while Google announced a $15 billion investment to establish its largest data center hub outside the United States in India. To sustain this momentum, the Indian government has introduced a 20-year tax exemption for hyperscalers utilizing data centers within the country to serve international clients. With competitive infrastructure costs and a newly initiated tax holiday, India is becoming a more appealing destination for hyperscalers compared to other locations like Singapore, the UAE, and Ireland. Kapil Modi, a partner at Carlyle India Advisors, stated that they have formed a strong partnership with Airtel and believe Nxtra is strategically positioned to capitalize on India's long-term digital infrastructure growth. According to a December report by KPMG, India's total installed data center capacity is projected to exceed 2GW by 2026, up from just over 1GW in 2025. The report anticipates a fivefold increase to over 8GW by 2030, potentially generating around $30 billion in capital expenditure. Additionally, Yotta Data Services, another key player in the Indian data center market, is investing $2 billion to create an Nvidia-powered AI hub and has expressed intentions to go public by late 2026 or early 2027 to secure further funding for its expansion.