Bharti Airtel announced a $1 billion investment into its data center subsidiary Nxtra Data, backed by global investors Alpha Wave Global, Carlyle, and Anchorage Capital, as the company accelerates its push into India’s rapidly growing digital infrastructure market.
The transaction values Nxtra at approximately $3.1 billion post-closing, with Airtel retaining a controlling stake. The funding will be used to expand Nxtra’s data center footprint across India and support increasing demand driven by artificial intelligence, cloud adoption, and enterprise digital transformation.
As part of the investment, Alpha Wave Global will contribute $435 million, Carlyle will invest $240 million, and Anchorage Capital will provide $35 million, with the remaining capital coming from Airtel. The deal remains subject to regulatory approvals in India.
Nxtra currently operates one of India’s largest data center networks, with around 300 MW of capacity, and plans to scale to 1 GW over the next few years while targeting roughly 25% market share. The company operates 14 core data centers and more than 120 edge facilities nationwide, offering services including colocation, cloud infrastructure, disaster recovery, and edge computing.
The company is also positioning itself as an AI-driven infrastructure provider, leveraging artificial intelligence for predictive maintenance, energy efficiency, and automated operations. The new capital will support further development of AI-ready infrastructure and expansion into key markets.
India’s data center sector is experiencing rapid growth, fueled by rising digital consumption, cloud services adoption, and demand from hyperscalers and large language model providers. Industry projections indicate strong long-term expansion, with significant increases in capacity expected over the coming years.
Nxtra is also expanding its infrastructure pipeline, including new AI-ready campuses in cities such as Chennai, Mumbai, and Kolkata, and partnerships with global technology companies to support large-scale deployments.
KEY QUOTES:
“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 ~300 MW capacity today, we aim to scale to 1 GW in the next few years, targeting ~25% market share. Strategic partnerships with global investors and technology leaders are central to our growth roadmap, enabling us to accelerate expansion, harness world-class expertise, and deliver next-generation digital infrastructure solutions at scale. With strong market demand, we are committed to stepping up investments and strengthening India’s position as a leading data center hub.”
Gopal Vittal, Executive Vice Chairman, Bharti Airtel
“We have built a strong partnership with Airtel and continue to believe Nxtra is well-positioned to benefit from India’s long-term digital infrastructure tailwinds. The company has made significant progress in expanding its capabilities, strengthening customer relationships and building a scalable platform, and we look forward to further working with Airtel and Nxtra’s management team to build the company into one of the largest datacenter players in India.”
Kapil Modi, Partner, Carlyle India Advisors
“Alpha Wave has a particular focus on identifying and backing AI-first businesses including Anthropic, OpenAI, Cerebras, SpaceX, X.ai, Ramp, Cognition and Long Lake Management. We are excited to partner with Mr. Sunil Mittal and the Bharti Group — a franchise defined by outstanding leadership and a remarkable track record of executing at scale alongside institutional investors – as Nxtra scales to become India’s leading data center business.”
Rick Gerson, Co-Founder & CIO, Alpha Wave Global
“India has an immense AI opportunity ahead of it — Indians already meaningfully interact with and on Chat GPT, Claude and other AI platforms. As such India is set to see its data center capacity grow meaningfully to keep up with hyperscaler and LLM demand.”
Navroz D. Udwadia, Co-Founder, Alpha Wave Global
