Why Lodha Developers see data centres as future with Rs 1.3 lakh-crore Maharashtra deal

Lodha Developers Ltd has significantly expanded its investment commitment in Maharashtra’s data centre sector, taking the total proposed outlay to Rs 1.3 lakh crore. The company, on January 19, signed a fresh memorandum of understanding (MoU) worth Rs 1 lakh crore with the Maharashtra government on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos.

As per the official release, the latest agreement comes just four months after the real estate major had signed an earlier MoU of Rs 30,000 crore with the state government in September last year to develop a data centre under Maharashtra’s Green Integrated Data Centre Park policy.

With the combined investment, Lodha Developers plans to build a massive data centre park with a capacity of around 2.5 gigawatts, making it the largest such facility in the country.

Boost to Maharashtra’s investment landscape

The additional Rs 1 lakh crore commitment further strengthens Lodha Group’s long-term investment strategy in Maharashtra and aligns with the state government’s efforts to position itself as a leading data centre hub in India, the company said.

The proposed data centre park is expected to generate more than 16,000 direct and indirect employment opportunities once fully operational.

Global players line up

The large-scale infrastructure project is already attracting major global and domestic data centre players. Amazon has acquired land within the park for its data centre operations and has also secured power arrangements for the next 15 years. Singapore-based STT Global Data Centres has also purchased a land parcel within the development.

“Over and above the Rs 30,000 crores commitment last year to develop the data centre park, we have signed another agreement with Government of Maharashtra to invest additional Rs 1 lakh crore. The state has already scaled newer heights under the leadership of Devendra Fadnavis, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Maharashtra. His vision and actions directed towards developed Maharashtra, gives us immense confidence in committing to such a large investment,” said Abhishek Lodha, MD and CEO of Lodha Developers Ltd.

Why Lodha Developers are betting on AI and data centres?

Speaking to Zee Business on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Lodha highlighted the importance of AI and data centres.

Data centres and artificial intelligence (AI) will be game changers for the economy over the next few decades, Lodha said. Drawing a parallel with historical technological shifts, he said that just as steam engines and railways transformed the global economy 100 to 150 years ago, artificial intelligence will bring a major change over the next 5 to 20 years.

Highlighting the importance of data centres, Lodha described them as essential infrastructure for the modern economy. According to him, just as roads, railways and airports are required to run an economy, data centres will be equally necessary going forward. He added that this is why India is seeing a large-scale creation of data centre infrastructure.