Mumbai has secured a place among the world’s top 15 data centre markets, highlighting India’s rising position in the global digital infrastructure sector. While the city has emerged as the country’s leading data centre hub, industry experts believe improvements in power infrastructure, renewable energy availability and regulatory processes will be critical if it is to break into the global top 10.
According to the Knight Frank Global Data Centre Atlas 2026, Mumbai ranks 15th globally in terms of live operational IT capacity and 11th for its development pipeline, reflecting both its existing infrastructure and the scale of planned future expansion.
The city currently has 774 MW of live IT capacity, with nearly 5 GW (4,993 MW) under development, making it India’s largest data centre market and one of the fastest-growing in the Asia-Pacific region.
Mumbai’s rise has been supported by several structural advantages. The city serves as India’s primary international connectivity gateway through multiple subsea cable landing stations, enabling low-latency links with global networks. It is also home to the country’s largest financial services ecosystem and a strong concentration of enterprise customers, creating sustained demand for digital infrastructure.
The rapid adoption of cloud computing, increasing artificial intelligence (AI) workloads and digital transformation initiatives across industries have further accelerated demand for data centre capacity, making Mumbai an attractive destination for hyperscalers, cloud service providers and enterprise investments.
Despite this progress, Mumbai continues to trail the world’s largest data centre markets, including Ashburn, Columbus, Dallas and Tokyo, which have significantly higher operational capacities and continue to attract large-scale investments.
The Knight Frank report notes that demand is no longer India’s primary challenge. Instead, the country’s future growth in the sector will depend on strengthening supporting infrastructure. Key priorities include ensuring timely power availability, expanding transmission networks, accelerating regulatory approvals, improving fibre connectivity, increasing access to renewable energy and developing larger campus-scale facilities capable of supporting AI-driven workloads.
With a strong development pipeline already in place, experts believe Mumbai has the potential to climb further in the global rankings. However, sustained investments in infrastructure and policy support will be essential for the city to compete with the world’s leading digital infrastructure hubs and secure a place among the global top 10 data centre markets.
Source: Business Today
