IndiQube plans to pilot data centres in office spaces amid client demand

IndiQube explores small-scale enterprise data centres within existing office buildings as it looks to diversify its managed workspace offerings

Bengaluru-based managed office provider IndiQube is exploring pilot projects to set up smaller-scale data centres within its existing office buildings, Rishi Das, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO), told Business Standard.

 

“We do not have a data centre at present. However, we have two or three clients with very high power requirements, who run critical power applications with us. That gives us confidence, and we are now in discussions with clients to understand their requirements,” he said.

 

Das added that the data centres would operate on a smaller scale than those run by major operators such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), the world’s largest data centre portfolio provider.

 

“The model we are exploring is closer to co-locating a functional enterprise data centre within an existing IndiQube building, rather than building a standalone data centre campus,” he said.

 

The company is currently evaluating use cases and pilot formats, with plans to scale up only once the customer use case and economics are established.

 

IndiQube, Das said, sees the immediate opportunity primarily in setting up conventional enterprise computing facilities rather than large-scale artificial intelligence (AI) training workloads. Enterprise data centres are facilities that house digital infrastructure, such as routers, switches, servers and firewalls, to enable data storage and processing for a firm's everyday operations.

 

If the plan works out, IndiQube could be among the first managed space providers to offer co-located, small-scale, non-AI data centres, setting itself apart from the market and potentially opening up a new sub-segment for office space providers.

 

Dedicated data centre services have yet to emerge as an established offering among India's major flexible workspace operators, with most currently limiting their technology offerings to information technology (IT) infrastructure, server rooms and network management.

 

“AI will certainly increase computing demand over time, but our starting point is simpler: solve the enterprise requirement that already exists within our buildings and scale from there,” he added.

 

On the data centres' power requirements, Das said their smaller scale would mean that demand would be “relatively modest” and driven by specific client requirements. He added that the company already had reliable power backup systems in place. Its green power ambitions could also become an important differentiator as the data centre opportunity develops, he said.

 

Das said IndiQube was doubling down on solar and green energy and had set up a 30 megawatt (Mw) captive plant to meet its own requirements, as more clients were asking the company to provide green power at their other locations. The company is also commissioning an additional 30 Mw this year, alongside the existing plant.

 

“Our natural role is around the physical infrastructure: space, power, cooling, uptime and the operating environment. For specialist technology layers, we can work with partners where required. We do not see ourselves becoming a hyperscale data centre operator,” he said.

 

According to Das, the company expects 90 per cent of its growth to come from Tier-I markets. It is consequently planning to expand in cities where it already has a presence, with the National Capital Region (NCR), Hyderabad and Mumbai likely to be its three expansion areas. It already has a dominant presence in Bengaluru and Chennai.

 

On funding needs, IndiQube is not looking at any fundraising over the next two to three years, including qualified institutional placements (QIPs). The cash flows generated by the company should be more than sufficient to fund its growth, according to Das.

 

In its September quarter results declared on Tuesday, the firm reported a net loss of ₹5.86 crore, narrowing from ₹29.86 crore in the year-ago period, while total income rose 34.3 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to ₹492.16 crore.

 

The company's area under management increased by 1.72 million sq ft (msf) Y-o-Y to 10.86 msf, while its seat capacity grew by 38,000 to 241,000 seats.