Title page 1

Contents 1

Executive summary 1

1. Why are data centres emerging as a strategic sustainability challenge for India? 6

2. What is driving the rapid growth of data centres in India? 8

3. Why does site selection determine the resilience of data centres? 12

4. How are Indian stakeholders navigating growth and sustainability trade-offs in practice? 14

5. How do India's data centre policies compare with emerging global regulatory approaches? 16

6. How can India position itself as a sustainable data centre hub? 20

Annexure 22

References 24

Tables 16

Table 1. Comprehensive comparative matrix of the policy levers across states 16

Table 2. Structuring the pathways to sustainable data centre growth 21

Figures 9

Figure 1. Core enablers of India's digital transition 9

Figure 2. More than ~65% of data centres are located in six regions 11

Figure 3. Critical factors that define data centre site selection 12

Annex Tables 23

Table A1. Edge and hyperscale data centres are expected to dominate the global market 23

Annex Figures 22

Figure A1. How user requests are processed and delivered by data centres 22