Essar Group firm Black Box earmarks Rs 100 cr to ramp up India presence

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Essar Group firm Black Box, a global digital infrastructure integrator, has earmarked about Rs 100 crore to fuel its India expansion, as it looks to more than double its India business in the next few years.

A huge chunk of this investment -- which represents about a quarter of Black Box's recent Rs 410 crore fundraise -- will be used to strengthen the firm's Center of Excellence in Bengaluru, where the company plans to double its workforce to about 1,000 employees over the next year. The company currently employs around 3,000 people worldwide.

"India's digital infrastructure is undergoing a fundamental rebuild. The next four to five years are hyper-active for us because we want to ensure we're deeply embedded in this transformation, said Sanjeev Verma, Whole-Time Director at Black Box.

With India's data center capacity currently at just 800900 megawatts -- roughly equivalent to a single hyperscaler in the US -- Black Box sees a compelling long-term opportunity, the company said in a statement.

"Despite having four times the US population, India's digital infrastructure is still in early stages of maturity. In the next three to four years, this will dramatically change," Verma said.

Black Box, listed on the Indian stock exchanges, has operations spread across 35 countries, but its major business comes from the US. The company counts India as one of its most strategic markets globally.

The company plans to leverage the expertise gained from working with hyperscale customers worldwide to serve Indian clients, aiming to become a dominant player in the Indian digital infrastructure space as the country accelerates its AI and cloud adoption.

Black Box's India expansion strategy targets key sectors like public infrastructure, including transportation, logistics, airports, and public sector enterprises, which are increasingly adopting artificial intelligence to optimise operations and improve service delivery.

The company has recently secured a five-year cybersecurity contract worth around Rs 100 crore with one of India's largest municipal corporations, covering digital security for 20,000 public sector employees.

"As AI adoption grows across these sectors, it automatically drives demand for advanced, secure, and scalable digital infrastructure. This shift is paving a clear and expanding growth market for companies like Black Box that are positioned to deliver end-to-end digital solutions," Verma said.