Data Center

Future Trends in Data Centers: How Gujarat is Positioning Itself as a Tech Hub

Rohan Sheth

October 4, 2024

4 Min Read

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GIFT city is a recent development in the state of Gujarat along with the introduction of India’s first IFSC zone. Along with the financial advantages to businesses that it brings, it is also a demarcation of how Gujarat is poised to become one of the most important industrial development zones in the country. This naturally means that it is going to be a hub for data centric ventures and of course large-scale data infrastructures too. The most important factors that will contribute to the development of Gujarat as an industrial center are as follows:

1. Strategic Location and Connectivity

The geographical connectivity of Gujarat to major cities and international markets has always been a point, that would help it become a connecting point for international as well as domestic businesses. It provides the entire country a strategic location for global trade and can become a connecting point to the world. The fact that it is also connected to financial and tech hubs like Mumbai and Delhi makes it a profitable proposition for data-oriented business ventures. Early movers in the data infrastructure also stands to gain a lot of momentum from the location.

2. Advanced Infrastructure

GIFT city in Gandhinagar in Gujarat is one of the most advanced smart cities in the country. A location specifically designed to provide strong infrastructure and technical support to innovators. Features at GIFT city like high density racks, redundant power supplies and one of the best district cooling systems etc. makes it a location that major data infrastructure players cannot overlook at any cost. GIFT cities smart city features like automated waste management, smart water systems and efficient data center operations etc. makes it highly susceptible to growth as a well-developed business location.

3. Business-Friendly Environment

The EODB or Ease of Doing Business index in the state of Gujarat makes it a place designed to make processes easier for businesses to be built and operated. The easy and streamlined regulatory processes and single-window clearance systems makes it easier for businesses to build ground up ensuring even startups and MSMEs would thrive and innovate with ease.

There are also substantial tax and regulatory benefits for having businesses operating within the IFSC in GIFT city.

4. Economic and Policy Support

Data centers in Gujarat would benefit greatly from having the industrial policy of 2020 – which is poised to give out subsidies worth Rs. 40,000 crores to support companies with an annual outlay of Rs. 8000 crores. This includes incentives for private industrial parks and funding for MSME’s to acquire foreign patented technology – ensuring support to innovations and technology-oriented ventures.

Government ventures like the Digital India Mission that promote digital infrastructure development and gives support to significant investments being made in the data center infrastructure – potential for future growth.

5. Sustainability and Innovation

By focusing on green building practices sustainability is a key focus for the infrastructure development in Gujarat. This helps to foster a vibrant innovation ecosystem that is well suited for developments that are future proof. Gujarat is well-positioned to become a leading destination for data center businesses through these factors that contribute to infrastructure development. These efforts show a lot of focus on the sustainability and efficiency of data centers that are set to come up in the location while also driving technological advancements and economic growth in the region.

6. Skilled Workforce

Gujarat is home to some of the premier institutions for data sciences, security and business which makes it an ideal region to source local talents and promising a steady supply of skilled professionals. The state also has a growing talent pool and opportunities for professional workforce in the data center business.

7. Yotta G1

Foreseeing the enormous potential that GIFT city poses, Yotta has launched the G1 data center at the location. The state-of-the-art facility is a testament to rise in data center technology in the country and how Yotta is contributing to the sector. The center also has the power of the newest H100 GPUs from the Nvidia, which stands to redefine paradigms in the many domains not the least of which is AI, LLM and machine learning. The technology also powers India’s fastest AI-HPC in Shakti cloud.

Gujarat at the cusp of a data revolution

Gujarat is strategically positioning itself as a tech hub with its advanced infrastructure, business-friendly environment, economic and policy support, focus on sustainability, and a skilled workforce. Developments like GIFT City and initiatives by companies like Yotta highlight the state’s potential to become a leading destination for data center businesses. These efforts not only drive technological advancements but also contribute to the economic growth and sustainability of the region.

Rohan Sheth

Head of Colocation & Data Center Services

With over 17 years of extensive experience in the real estate and data center industry, Rohan has been instrumental in driving key projects including large-scale colocation data center facilities. He possesses deep expertise in land acquisition, construction, commercial real estate and contract management among other critical areas of end-to-end development of hyperscale data center parks and built-to-suit data center facilities across India. At Yotta, Rohan spearheads the data center build and colocation services business with a focus on expanding Yotta’s pan-India data center footprint.

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