Airtel raises $1 billion for Nxtra to scale AI-ready data centre capacity to 1 GW

Backed by global investors, the company plans to expand from 300 MW to 1 GW to meet rising enterprise and hyperscale demand.

Bharti Airtel has raised $1 billion for its data centre subsidiary Nxtra Data Limited to expand capacity and accelerate deployment of AI-ready infrastructure across India.

Nxtra plans to use the proceeds to scale its data centre capacity from around 300 MW currently to 1 GW over the next few years.

This will help meet the rise in demand for AI and cloud infrastructure across enterprise, hyperscale and government segments.

The funding round is led by Alpha Wave Global, with participation from Carlyle and Anchorage Capital. Airtel will also invest as part of the round and retain a controlling stake in Nxtra.

The transaction values the company at around $3.1 billion and is subject to regulatory approvals.

The company operates 14 core data centres and over 120 edge facilities across India, providing colocation, cloud infrastructure and disaster recovery services.

It is also expanding its footprint through new AI-ready campuses in Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata.

Targets AI-driven infrastructure demand

Nxtra is positioning its infrastructure to support AI-led workloads, with systems designed for predictive maintenance, energy efficiency and automated operations.

The company uses AI to optimise performance across its facilities, as enterprises increasingly deploy compute-intensive applications.

The expansion comes as India’s data centre market accelerates, driven by adoption of AI platforms, cloud services and digital applications.

Nxtra is also working with Google to develop a gigawatt-scale AI data centre campus, backed by a $15 billion investment.

The partnership is aimed at building large-scale infrastructure to support next-generation AI workloads.

The company is targeting enterprise, hyperscale and government customers, with plans to capture around 25 percent market share as it expands capacity and services.

The investment reflects increasing interest from global investors in India’s digital infrastructure, particularly in AI-ready data centres.

Alpha Wave Global, which focuses on AI-first businesses, is making its first investment in an AI data centre platform in India through Nxtra.

The move also comes amid broader industry activity, with companies such as Reliance Industries and Adani Enterprises, along with global hyperscalers including Microsoft and Amazon, expanding investments in India’s data centre ecosystem.

As enterprises scale AI deployments and data-intensive applications, demand for high-capacity, energy-efficient infrastructure is expected to increase, driving further expansion of data centre networks across the country.