Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) has committed up to ₹70 billion to Indian data center operator CtrlS, as part of a broader strategy to invest in global AI infrastructure. The investment includes an initial ₹40 billion to acquire an 8.2% stake in CtrlS and an additional ₹30 billion for a joint venture to develop hyperscale data centers across India. The move underscores the increasing importance of India in the global AI infrastructure landscape, as companies and investors seek to meet rising demand for cloud and AI computing resources.
CPP Investments will own 48% of the joint venture, with CtrlS holding the remaining 52%. CtrlS, founded in 2007, operates more than 15 data centers in India and has been expanding its footprint to meet demand from cloud providers, enterprises, and AI workloads. The investment builds on CPP Investments’ broader push into digital infrastructure, which it has pursued since 2017. The partnership is expected to help CtrlS expand its capacity and develop infrastructure tailored for AI workloads, according to CtrlS founder and CEO Sridhar Pinnapureddy.
India has become a major destination for data center and AI investments as global technology companies and investors ramp up spending to meet surging computing demand. Companies including Amazon, Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Uber have announced investments in the country in recent months, while operators are rapidly expanding capacity amid a broader global race to build AI infrastructure. New Delhi has sought to position India as a global hub for digital infrastructure through a range of policy measures, including tax exemptions for foreign cloud providers on services sold overseas through 2047, provided those workloads are run from data centers located in the country.
Source: techcrunch
