Blackstone launches platform to expand foray in Indian data centre segment

US private equity player Lumina CloudInfra's to add 600 megawatts of critical IT load

Private equity player Blackstone said on Tuesday it is expanding its data centre business in India with the launch of Lumina CloudInfra. The company aims to add 600 megawatts of critical IT loads to its capacity in the next two years.

Lumina CloudInfra is building two data centres in Mumbai and one in Chennai, aiming to make them operational by April 2023. The company will expand its data centre presence in three additional centres—Pune, Hyderabad and the national capital region (NCR)--within a year, said a senior executive.

Lumina CloudInfra is owned and managed by Blackstone Asia Real Estate Fund, which has a corpus of $10 billion, and Blackstone Tactical Opportunities Fund. Lumina has a fund size of $25 billion, said the executive.

In 2021, Blackstone announced its foray into warehousing and this year the focus is to get a foothold in Indian data centre business. According to Lumina, India's data centre market is expected to surpass $10 billion by 2027.

Anil Reddy, formerly head of global cloud infrastructure at Microsoft, will serve as the global chief executive officer of Lumina CloudInfra to lead the platform’s strategy, expansion and growth across Asia. Sujeet Deshpande will be CEO of the Indian business. Deshpande comes from Colt Data Center Services where he was president and country head of India.

“The data center sector is anchored by strong demand for data creation and storage around the world, particularly in India where many of the fastest-growing companies are based,” said Reddy.

Demand for data centres is driven by India’s growth as a technology hub, internet and mobile consumption, and government initiatives for a digital economy. “As the digitalization mega trend continues accelerating, Lumina will look for opportunities to expand its footprint in India and other Asian markets,” said Reddy.

“The launch of Lumina showcases Blackstone’s strengths – scale, network, and sector expertise – to address India’s growing demand for mission critical data infrastructure. Growth of the public and private cloud is one of our highest conviction investment themes globally, particularly in India where many of our investments have centered around technology-enabled businesses and properties,” said Jasvinder Khaira, head of digital infrastructure in Blackstone’s Tactical Opportunities Group.

Blackstone’s investments in digital infrastructure include USA’s QTS Realty Trust, which it bought in 2021 for approximately $10 billion; data centres in Japan on long-term contracts; Phoenix Towers International, a private cell tower platform in the Americas and Europe; and Hotwire Communications, a pioneer in fibre optic technology.

In India, Blackstone has built real asset portfolios of scale across major asset classes including logistics, retail, and office, and world-leading businesses in major sectors such as technology and financial services.