Bharti Airtel on Monday announced that its subsidiary Nxtra Data has secured investment of $1 billion led by Alpha Wave Global, Carlyle, and Anchorage Capital.

Airtel, which will also participate in the investment round, will continue to retain a controlling stake in Nxtra.

As part of the pact, Alpha Wave Global will invest $435 million, Carlyle $240 million, Anchorage Capital $35 million, with the rest being infused by Airtel.

Nxtra will be valued around $3.1 billion post-closing of transaction, according to a release.

The investment in Nxtra Data -- engaged in the data center business -- would be utilised for AI data center expansion and to fuel next phase of growth.

Investors' shareholding will be subject to finalised post-closing adjustments, the company said, adding that the deal is subject to regulatory approvals in the country.

Nxtra -- the first data center company in India to deploy AI at scale for predictive maintenance, energy efficiency, and automated operations -- intends to deploy proceeds from the fund infusion to accelerate its growth plans. It plans to extensively scale its infrastructure and broaden its portfolio of services, catering to the evolving needs of enterprises, hyperscalers, and government organisations across the country, the release added.

India's data center sector is witnessing rapid growth, driven by accelerating digital transformation across enterprises, rising adoption of cloud services, and expanding demand from hyperscalers.

According to a Savills India report, India's data center market is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 21 per cent between 2024 and 2030 to reach nearly 3,400 MW of IT capacity.

"At Nxtra, we have built one of India's most advanced and sustainable data center networks, designed to meet the evolving needs of enterprises, hyperscalers, and government. With nearly 300 MW capacity today, we aim to scale to 1 GW in the next few years, targeting about 25 per cent market share," Gopal Vittal, Executive vice chairman, Airtel, said.

Strategic partnerships with global investors and technology leaders are central to the growth roadmap, "enabling us to accelerate expansion, harness world-class expertise, and deliver next-generation digital infrastructure solutions at scale", he said.

"With strong market demand, we are committed to stepping up investments and strengthening India's position as a leading data center hub," Vittal added.

Headquartered in New Delhi, Nxtra operates 14 large core data centers and 120-plus edge facilities across the country, offering co-location, cloud infrastructure, managed hosting, data backup, disaster recovery, and edge computing services. It has a facility in Pune and is developing additional AI-ready campuses in Chennai, Mumbai, and Kolkata.

Nxtra has recently partnered with Google to build a gigawatt-scale AI data center campus, backed by a $15-billion investment.