Vipin Jain, president, data centre operations, CtrlS Datacenters Limited
Data centre players, such as CtrlS, have been employing adaptable approaches to meet the ever-evolving requirements of customers in the data centre domain. In an interview with tele.net, Vipin Jain, president, data centre operations, CtrlS Datacenters Limited, talks about CtrlS’s initiatives in this space and the company’s future growth strategies…
How has the data centre market evolved in India? What role is CtrlS playing in this space?
According to a recent research report, growing digital public infrastructure, 5G roll-out and adoption of new technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and internet of things devices will add 693 MW of data centres in India from the second half of 2023 to 2026. Moreover, data protection laws and state incentives signal a fresh set of demands for the data centre industry. This would entail a demand for 8.8 million square feet of data centre space. Data centre infrastructure and construction would require investments of $4.4 billion until 2026. Government initiatives such as Digital India, the classification of data centres as infrastructure assets and the new data localisation laws will propel further growth.
A front runner in the Indian data centre industry, CtrlS Datacenters has not only created capacities to meet the rising demand but also ensured that data centres are sustainable. The company has created an innovation-led culture, helping achieve strides in improving energy efficiency and operational excellence across its facilities.
How will the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2023, impact the data centre industry?
The Personal Data Protection Bill, which was recently passed by the President, the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha, outlines the concept of user permission, limits cross-border data transfers and data breaches, and establishes a structure for a data protection authority to monitor compliance. Companies and institutions that violate regulations or fail to take reasonable precautions to avoid data breaches can face penalties. This bill marks a significant step towards highlighting the significance of protecting individuals’ data privacy and security.
How will the collaboration with Thailand’s EECO bolster CtrlS’ portfolio? Do you plan to expand to other international markets as well?
The collaboration with Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor Office (EECO) is an opportunity to support the growth of Thailand’s eastern region and expand our presence there. The data centre campus is designed to meet hyperscalers’ needs while also catering to the high-end IT/compute demands of domestic enterprises. CtrlS’s data centre campus site at EECO offers proximity to submarine cable landing stations for the Asia-America Gateway and Asia Direct Cable systems, making this data centre campus a point of connection, equipped with submarine and terrestrial cable networks to connect to other data centres and industrial estates.
CtrlS Datacenters is actively exploring opportunities to foray into other promising markets across Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
What are the key challenges faced in data centre operations? How is CtrlS addressing these?
In the digital era, data centres play a vital role in the operations of organisations, encountering numerous challenges. Security is a major issue for data centre managers as data loss can diminish an organisation’s brand and cause financial losses. Further, data centres require increased allocation of resources. Additionally, there is an urgent need for considerable expansion of the workforce due to the exponential growth of the sector in the Asia-Pacific region. Over the years, CtrlS has developed solutions to address the myriad of challenges prevalent in the industry.
What are the future growth strategies for the company?
At present, CtrlS Datacenters has 12 state-of-the-art data centres with a total capacity of 234 MW, spread across seven major cities – Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Noida, Chennai, Lucknow and Patna.
An agile and innovative company, CtrlS has a well-defined strategy for the expansion of its hyperscale and edge data centres in India. The company is in the process of scaling power capacity from the current 234 MW to over 1,000 MW. Additionally, it is building a solar park near Mumbai to power its data centre facilities and eliminate its carbon footprint. In the realm of edge data centres, the company currently operates facilities in Lucknow and Patna and plans to add over 20 edge facilities across India. CtrlS is also extending its reach beyond India, with plans to venture into promising markets across Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
Through this comprehensive expansion approach, CtrlS Datacenters is positioning itself to cater to the requirements of hyperscalers and enterprises in areas such as data centres, managed services, cloud and network services. The company is also developing newer data centre infrastructure to support AI and machine learning workloads as well as liquid cooling technologies.
