Digital Connexion's Chennai Data Center goes on stream

Chennai: Digital Connexion, a three-way joint venture between Brookfield Asset Management (Brookfield), Reliance Industries Limited and Digital Realty on Friday announced the launch of its first data centre campus here.

It will cater up to 100 megawatt (MW) critical IT load capacity.

According to Digital Connexion, the first phase of the data center, MAA10, will offer 20MW of IT load and features a modular infrastructure design enabling customers to scale their infrastructure in response to varied workload demands, accommodating anything from single cabinet needs to multi-megawatt requirements.

It is equipped to support emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models. The facility also offers standardized configurations and ultrahigh-power densities (up to 70 kilowatts per rack) to meet the high-density power, suitable cooling infrastructure, and interconnectivity demands of AI workloads.

Inaugurating the facility Tamil Nadu Information Technology and Digital Services Minister Palanivel Thiagarajan said: "The convergence of entities such as Jio (Reliance), Digital Realty, and Brookfield at this event is indeed a commendable collaboration. As India undergoes digital transformation, marked by the digitisation of our economy, substantial growth in exports, and Software as a Service (SaaS), Chennai stands prominently as the capital of SaaS in the country. In light of these developments, I anticipate a significant upswing in the establishment and expansion of data centers to meet the demands of our increasingly digitized society."

CB Velayuthan, CEO of Digital Connexion said, "This 100 MW campus in Ambattur (in Chennai is ideal, given the availability of the necessary power supply, high number of submarine cable landing stations in the local area, and the state government's aspirations to make Chennai the top data center hub in India."

Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh D Ambani, Reliance Industries had recently said the company has partnered with Canada's Brookfield asset management and US-based Digital Reality to set up a state-of-the-art data centre, that will be opened next week.