ESR Commits ₹900 Crore to Develop Hyperscale Data Centre in Navi Mumbai
Mumbai, February 25, 2026: Asia-Pacific focused real asset owner and manager ESR is entering India's data centre space with a planned investment of approximately ₹900 crore. The company will develop a hyperscale, multi-storey data centre in the Rabale area of Navi Mumbai.
Project Details
The upcoming facility, named ESR Rabale MU1 Data Center, has already been pre-leased to a leading information and communications technology firm. The project is being developed on a 3.25-acre land parcel and is designed to support a facility load of up to 60 MW, ensuring scalability for the growing needs of cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and enterprise workloads.
Designed and developed by ESR, MU1 will be delivered as a powered shell facility. The project sits within the Airoli-Rabale data centre cluster—a critical availability zone for Mumbai's cloud region—and benefits from proximity to major enterprise and technology corridors that are driving India's digital expansion.
Strategic Rationale
According to Stuart Gibson, Co-founder and Co-CEO of ESR, India represents one of the most attractive data centre growth markets globally. He highlighted that rapid digital adoption, data localisation mandates, and the surge in cloud and AI demand are key drivers. Gibson also noted that continued investments in power grid transformation and the availability of competitively priced renewable energy further strengthen the country's position.
The Rabale development marks an important step in ESR's pan-APAC data centre pipeline, which exceeds 3 GW, and underlines the company's long-term commitment to supporting the local economy.
Management Commentary
Abhijit Malkani, CEO – India at ESR, stated that the company's India entry is based on disciplined site selection, strong infrastructure readiness, and an execution-driven development strategy. He described MU1 as a landmark project that brings together scale, robust connectivity, and reliable power within one of Mumbai's most established data centre clusters.
Malkani added that with digital demand accelerating rapidly, ESR is well positioned to develop high-quality data centre hubs across India, leveraging its APAC experience, strong capital partnerships, and integrated development capabilities.
Echoing this view, Diarmid Massey, CEO – Data Centres at ESR, said MU1 reflects the company's blueprint for next-generation, high-density facilities. He emphasised that the project builds on ESR's proven APAC track record and is supported by a secured pipeline of over 3 GW in land and power.
India's Data Centre Momentum
ESR's India foray comes amid increasing investments by global infrastructure and private equity players in the country's fast-growing data centre sector. The momentum is being fuelled by expanding cloud adoption, rising AI workloads, and stricter data localisation requirements.
India's data centre demand continues to strengthen, supported by digital public infrastructure initiatives and the rapid growth of data-intensive applications. Enterprises across banking, financial services, e-commerce, and technology are accelerating cloud migration, while global hyperscalers keep expanding capacity.
Mumbai continues to dominate as India's largest data centre hub, backed by strong submarine cable connectivity, dense network infrastructure, and a high concentration of enterprise users.