Australian data center operator AirTrunk is preparing to expand into India as the global surge in artificial intelligence drives unprecedented demand for digital infrastructure. The company’s founder and chief executive officer Robin Khuda said plans for the India project are already “pretty advanced,” making the country a key focus for its next phase of growth.
Khuda highlighted that India’s population of 1.5 billion and its digitally active youth create a strong opportunity for large scale data center development. AirTrunk was acquired last year by an investment firm for a deal valued at 24 billion Australian dollars. Since then, the company has increased its expansion efforts across Asia as investment continues to flow into AI powered platforms.
In August, AirTrunk completed a 16 billion Australian dollar refinancing to support both upcoming projects and ongoing operations in Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore.
Speaking at a business conference in Sydney, Khuda described the global AI investment wave as “the single biggest gold rush in human history.” He said the demand across Asia is wide enough to support several large players and added, “It’s not like there’s only one winner who will take home everything.” He estimated that the sector will require hundreds of billions of dollars in funding in the coming years.
The acquisition of AirTrunk in 2024 was the largest investment made by the private equity firm in the Asia Pacific region and one of the biggest digital infrastructure deals globally. However, the firm’s chief executive officer recently warned that the electricity needed to power rapidly growing data centers could face supply challenges, which may become a key issue for future expansion.
The investment firm has been one of the major investors in India for many years and currently manages more than fifty billion dollars in assets in the country. Almost forty percent of its investments have gone into Maharashtra. AirTrunk has also invested heavily in real estate across major cities including Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, the National Capital Region, Chennai and Kolkata.
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