Bharti Airtel Raises $1 Billion for Data Center Business Amid AI Boom
April 2026 — India’s telecom giant Bharti Airtel has raised $1 billion for its data center subsidiary, Nxtra Data, from major private equity investors including Alpha Wave Global, Carlyle, and Anchorage Capital. The deal values Nxtra Data at approximately $3.1 billion once the transaction is completed.
According to the company’s stock exchange filing, Alpha Wave Global will invest $435 million, Carlyle will invest $240 million, and Anchorage Capital will contribute $35 million, while Airtel will invest the remaining amount. The new funding will be used to expand Nxtra’s data center operations across India.
Bharti Airtel is India’s second-largest telecom operator, and its data center arm Nxtra currently operates 14 large data centers along with over 120 smaller edge facilities located closer to users and devices. The company currently has around 300 megawatts (MW) of data center capacity and plans to scale this to 1 gigawatt (GW) in the coming years, targeting about 25% market share.
AI Driving Data Center Demand
The global demand for data centers has surged due to the rapid growth of artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and digital services. AI systems require massive computing power, cooling systems, and network infrastructure, which has led to significant investment in data center infrastructure worldwide. In 2025 alone, more than $61 billion was invested globally in data centers.
Investors believe India has a major opportunity in AI and cloud infrastructure because of its large digital population and growing use of AI platforms such as ChatGPT and other AI tools. As AI adoption increases, the need for data storage and processing infrastructure is expected to grow significantly.
Global Tech Companies Investing in India
Global technology companies are also investing heavily in India’s digital infrastructure. Companies like Microsoft and Amazon have pledged more than $50 billion combined toward India’s cloud and AI infrastructure, while Google has announced a $15 billion investment to build its largest data center hub outside the United States in India.
To attract more investment, the Indian government has announced a 20-year tax exemption for hyperscale data center companies serving global clients from India. Combined with relatively low infrastructure costs, this policy is making India an attractive alternative to data center hubs like Singapore, the UAE, and Ireland.
India’s Data Center Market Growth
India’s total installed data center capacity is expected to grow rapidly. According to industry estimates, capacity is projected to increase from just over 1GW in 2025 to more than 2GW by 2026, and could grow five times to over 8GW by 2030, generating around $30 billion in capital expenditure.
Another Indian company, Yotta Data Services, is also investing heavily in AI infrastructure and plans to launch an IPO by late 2026 or early 2027 to fund expansion, including building AI data centers powered by Nvidia technology.
