Data centre infrastructure company Equinix said on Tuesday that it will invest over $9 million to acquire around 5.5-acre land parcel in Chennai on a long-term leasehold basis as part of its expansion and growth strategy in India.

The parcel of land is located in the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu Ltd (SIPCOT) IT Park. It is strategically located in the Siruseri area, which is known as the IT Corridor of Chennai, with large and upcoming IT parks and well-established telecom networks, said the company.

“With the infrastructure status for data centres recently announced by the Indian government, India is well-positioned to grow as one of the most important data centre hubs in South Asia,” said Manoj Paul, managing director, Equinix India.

“There is a lot of momentum and interest from large global players to establish and expand their footprint in India. Many of our customers are keen to expand beyond Mumbai and Chennai is often their next requested destination. At Equinix, we are focused on enabling digital business in the locations our customers request.”

In 2021, Equinix entered India through the acquisition of two data centres in Mumbai, named MB1 and MB2. The two data centres in Mumbai are home to the digital infrastructure of numerous global organizations and provide a total of 1,350 cabinets.

Equinix also launched a Global Center of Excellence (GCoE) in India, which will provide customers and employees with innovative and automated digital technologies to improve the resilience of their digital infrastructures.

According to a Nasscom report, over 80 third-party data centres are currently in operation in India, and investments from both local and international players are expected to reach $4.6 billion per year by 2025. With a strategic location, access to subsea cable landing stations, stable power supply and thriving IT infrastructure, Chennai is steadily emerging as a data centre hub and has made it to the top ten markets to watch in the world, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s 2021 Global Data Center Market Comparison report.