CHENNAI: Chennai has taken a major step towards becoming a key player in digital infrastructure with the inauguration of a Rs 4,000 crore Data Centre Park in Ambattur, developed by CtrlS, with an IT load capacity of 72MW. The centre is expected to attract Rs 50,000 crore-worth indirect investments and generate around 9,500 jobs.
The park, with two data centre buildings, was virtually inaugurated by Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday. CtrlS chairman Sridhar Pinnapureddy said the park is expected to create around 500 direct and 9,000 indirect jobs. The company had signed a memorandum of understanding with the state government in November 2021.
To meet the high energy demands, CtrlS plans to establish a solar plant in Chennai. In the meantime, the data centre will draw power from TNPDCL’s Sriperumbudur-Korattur line, supplemented by battery backups and generators for uninterrupted operations.
Industries Minister TRB Rajaa highlighted the government’s vision for expanding Chennai’s data centre ecosystem and said the city’s data centre capacity is expected to double in the coming years. “With the proposed TN Tech City in Madhavaram, more space will be available for data centres in Chennai,” he said in a post on social media.
By 2026, the city’s data centre capacity is set to expand by an additional 2.6 million square feet (134MW), with further growth of 2.5 million square feet (130MW) planned for 2027-28. As of June 2024, Chennai’s operational data centre capacity stood at 108MW, CtrlS said.
Pinnapureddy said the company has committed to a $2 billion investment over five years, announced in 2023. “We have already spent nearly half of this amount,” he said. CtrlS currently operates 15 data centres, with a total IT load capacity of 250MW, in cities like Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Noida, and Kolkata.
Brahma Reddy Kasu, president of CtrlS Data Centre infrastructure, said the new facility is built to support AI workloads and features advanced liquid cooling racks.
What is IT load capacity?
A data centre’s IT load capacity signifies the maximum processing power the data centre can handle and is used to assess its size and capabilities. It is the key factor in determining how much computing power a data centre can provide. It is typically measured in megawatts (MW) and refers to the amount of power it can deliver to its computing equipment.