Blackstone’s AirTrunk is planning to build a data center in India

AirTrunk, the Australian data center company purchased by Blackstone Inc. for AU$24 billion ($16 billion) last year, will expand to India, its founder and CEO, Robin Khuda, announced, citing strong demand in the sector.

According to Khuda, India’s construction plans are well underway, and the country’s 1.5 billion population, with a digitally active younger generation, presents strong potential for data center growth.

His announcement comes shortly after AirTrunk closed a AU$16 billion refinancing deal in August to build or maintain centers in Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore.

CEO Khuda asserts there’s enough demand in Asia for his firm and its rivals

Speaking at a Forbes Conference in Sydney on Thursday, CEO Khuda described AI investments as “the single-biggest gold rush in human history.”  He further pointed out, citing his firm’s construction project in India, Asia’s appetite for data centers is large enough to accommodate both AirTrunk and its competitors.

He remarked, “It’s not like there’s only one winner who will take home everything.” Nonetheless, he insisted that the data center industry still needs hundreds of billions of dollars to meet its expansion targets.

Completed in 2024, the deal between Blackstone and AirTrunk became the private equity firm’s largest investment in the Asia-Pacific region and one of the largest global digital infrastructure acquisitions to date. However, recently Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman cast a shadow on AI expansion plans, warning that companies might encounter electricity shortages.

The investment company is a major investor in India, directing almost 40% of its $50 billion in India investments to Maharashtra. The firm has also made significant investments in Indian real estate, committing over $20 billion across top cities, including Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, NCR, Chennai, and Kolkata.

AirTrunk has an interest in a data center project in Australia and is working with Humain in Saudi Arabia

Recently, AirTrunk was announced as the prospective buyer for a 1 GW data center campus in Western Sydney, Australia. The firm intends to buy the site if planning permission is granted for the data center project. 

So far, the project is expected to cost AU$5 billion ($3.3 billion) to establish a 1 GW data campus with six four-story buildings covering 400,000 sqm (4.3 million sq ft) and 24 halls ranging from 600MW to 1 GW.

Moreover, in October, Blackstone finalized a $3 billion agreement to develop data centers with Humain, Saudi Arabia’s state-backed AI firm. AirTrunk and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board planned to work with Humain to fund, build, and operate facilities for the computer systems and storage that power AI models in Saudi Arabia.

Humain’s CEO, Tareq Amin, even hinted they had more data center expansion plans beyond the $3 billion investment deal. The company’s first data centers in Saudi Arabia are already under construction and are scheduled to launch early next year. The company is procuring essential semiconductors from US chipmakers, including Nvidia, for AI operations. 

Overall, Tareq aims to expand data center capacity by 1.9GW by 2030. However, details about campus locations, total capacity, and which chips will be chosen have yet to be announced.

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