The AI and data center story is just beginning.
AirTrunk’s : Investing $30B expansion in India !
The Union Budget FY27 has announced a 20-year tax holiday up to 2047 for foreign companies that provide global cloud services using data centers located in India. This means such companies will not be taxed in India on global income generated through Indian data center infrastructure, provided services to Indian customers are routed through an Indian entity.
The objective is to remove tax uncertainty, attract large-scale global hyperscale and AI investments, and position India as a global data center hub. The benefit applies mainly to foreign cloud operators like global hyperscalers, not directly to domestic data center operators.
Reports and early industry reaction suggest that this policy is expected to unlock large investments, including major commitments such as AirTrunk’s ~$30B expansion in India, as global operators accelerate capacity buildout in response to strong policy visibility and AI-driven demand growth.
Today, AirTrunk operates across Australia, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Malaysia. It is now expanding aggressively into India and Saudi Arabia to capture the booming demand from cloud computing and AI.
In 2024, AirTrunk was acquired by Blackstone and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board in a transaction valuing the company at over A$24 billion, making it one of the largest infrastructure deals in Asia-Pacific history
India’s digital infrastructure journey is gathering remarkable momentum.
AirTrunk has announced plans to invest around Rs. 3 lakh crore ($30 billion) in India, and develop 5 GW of data centre capacity. This is among the largest proposed investments in the country’s digital infrastructure ecosystem.
Such investments will strengthen India’s position as a global hub for cloud computing and AI, while generating employment opportunities, supporting local supply chains and accelerating innovation-led growth.
It is clear that the future of the world’s digital economy is increasingly being shaped in India!