Mumbai enters world's top 15 data centre markets; Hyderabad emerges as fastest-growing global hub: Knight Frank India

Mumbai has cemented its position among the world's leading data centre destinations, while Hyderabad has emerged as one of the fastest-growing global markets, reflecting India's growing prominence in digital infrastructure amid rising cloud adoption and Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven demand, according to Knight Frank India's latest Global Data Centre Atlas 2026.

The report ranks Mumbai as the 15th-largest data centre market globally by live operational IT capacity and 11th by development pipeline, while Hyderabad stands 27th in operational capacity and 19th in future pipeline, highlighting the country's expanding footprint in the global digital infrastructure landscape. The study compares 36 leading data centre markets across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa.

Commenting on the findings, Shishir Baijal, International Partner, Chairman and Managing Director, Knight Frank India, said Mumbai's global ranking reflects years of investment in connectivity, enterprise demand and cloud infrastructure, while Hyderabad's strong pipeline demonstrates international operators' confidence in India's long-term growth story. He added that if India aims to enter the world's top 10 data centre markets, faster power provisioning, renewable energy capacity, transmission upgrades, quicker approvals and development-ready sites will be essential to support AI-led and hyperscale investments.

Mumbai anchors India's digital infrastructure growth

Mumbai currently hosts 774 MW of live IT capacity and nearly 5 GW (4,993 MW) of pipeline capacity, making it India's primary gateway data centre market. The city's position is supported by multiple subsea cable landings, proximity to the country's largest financial services ecosystem and a deep enterprise customer base.

Hyderabad, though operating from a comparatively smaller installed base of 151 MW, has built a development pipeline of 2,265 MW, reflecting strong investor confidence. Knight Frank said the city continues to attract hyperscale cloud providers owing to large land parcels, competitive operating costs, policy support and a rapidly expanding technology ecosystem.

Joseph Thilak, Executive Director – Occupier Strategy & Solutions and Head of Data Centre Business (India) at Knight Frank India, said India's data centre market is entering a more mature phase, driven by sustained cloud adoption, AI computing demand and enterprise digitalisation. He noted that occupiers are increasingly seeking scalable, resilient and energy-efficient facilities, which is encouraging operators to expand both established and emerging markets, strengthening India's position as a long-term data centre hub in Asia

The report noted that India's data centre ecosystem is becoming increasingly diversified. Chennai is strengthening its role as a gateway for Southeast Asian internet traffic, while Bengaluru continues to benefit from demand generated by Global Capability Centres (GCCs), research and development facilities and enterprise colocation requirements. Pune, the National Capital Region (NCR), Visakhapatnam and Jamnagar are also emerging as important growth centres, supported by enterprise demand, government initiatives and planned subsea cable connectivity.