As 2025 draws to a close, a wave of new technologies is emerging across India. The growing popularity of extended reality (XR) and virtual reality (VR) products is enhancing the user experience, enabling functionalities such as video calls directly from smart glasses and augmented reality applications such as Apple’s Vision Pro. However, these technologies demand ultra-low latency, minimal buffering, and high speed, seamless connectivity, highlighting the critical need to bring computing power closer to end-users through dedicated hotspots.
This is where edge data centres are poised to play a pivotal role. An edge data centre is a compact facility, typically with a power capacity of 2 MW or less. Enterprises can establish these facilities “at the edge”, meaning close to the people, machines and processes that generate and consume data.
These centres can manage localised tasks such as the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and ATM transactions in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. Edge data centres facilitate real-time data processing, provide enhanced networking and security, support the scalability of edge cloud services, offer tailored enterprise solutions and seamlessly integrate artificial intelligence (AI)-driven functionalities.
Decentralising India’s digital infrastructure
As of November 2025, approximately 70 per cent of India’s data centre capacity is concentrated in major metropolitan hubs, which underscores the need for edge data centres to reduce processing times for users located far from these hubs.
However, as per tele.net estimates, edge data centres currently constitute less than 1 per cent of India’s total data centre co-location capacity.
The potential applications for edge data centres are vast and dynamic, driving advancements across industries. They are transforming industry operations by powering over-the-top (OTT) platforms and
cloud gaming as well as optimising intelligent traffic systems, smart parking, autonomous vehicles, remote walkthroughs and immersive training for maintenance, repair and operations. These capabilities
establish edge data centres as critical infrastructure, setting new benchmarks for speed, efficiency and innovation in India’s evolving data centre landscape.
Advantages of edge data centres in India
Edge data centres are becoming the preferred option in India for several key reasons. They offer high reliability, align with regulatory requirements and enhance user experiences. By processing data locally, a mandate under the newly notified DPDP Rules, they minimise the risk of failure associated with a single point of reliance and reduce bandwidth costs.
Expanding edge infrastructure market
Several key players are actively expanding India’s edge data centre. Airtel’s Nxtra currently operates over 120 edge data centres across the country, while CtrlS has commissioned facilities in Patna and Lucknow, with plans for more than 20 additional centres in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets such as GIFT City (Ahmedabad), Bhubaneswar and Guwahati. Yotta has two operational 1 MW edge data centres in Navi Mumbai, while Sify is developing approximately 20 small AI inferencing facilities in secondary markets. Sify has also recently commenced work on a Rs 15 billion AI data centre project in Visakhapatnam. Several other major players are also contributing to this expansion – STT GDC has begun work on its first edge data centre in Jaipur, Infibeam Avenues is planning to roll out facilities across multiple cities and AdaniConneX has announced plans to set up edge data centres across the country.
Outlook
As per ICRA estimates, India’s edge data centre capacity is projected to increase threefold, from 60-70 MW in 2024 to 200-210 MW by 2027, driven by the proliferation of emerging technologies. This growth will be complemented by the increasing adoption of cloud computing, which relies heavily on edge sites for seamless deployment. While hyperscale facilities will maintain a stable presence in major metropolitan areas, the strongest momentum will come from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, where edge deployments are rapidly increasing. Government initiatives such as Digital India, the Smart Cities Mission and upcoming digital public infrastructure projects will further catalyse this transition, creating demand for highly distributed micro-facilities to serve regional and rural populations. Against this backdrop, India’s digital architecture is set to evolve into a dense, decentralised edge network that enhances service reliability, reduces latency, eases backhaul pressure and promotes more inclusive digital access nationwide.
