India / Bhārata: Kotak Invests $590m In India Data Center Venture

The initial closing of the data center fund by Kotak Alternate Assets has been revealed to be $590 million. The fund is based in the Gujurat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), and this amount represents about 74% of the company's initial $800 million aim. The investment division of India's Kotak Mahindra Bank has been soliciting money since it was first announced in November 2022 to invest in expanding data center capacity. This will enable the spread of the Internet of Things (IoT), the business cloud, the data-backed digital network, and five to seven big data centers around the nation. Rahul Shah, executive director at Kotak Investment Advisors Ltd, stated that due to the high CAPEX industry's need for capacity expansion, they feel there is a potential for equity investment to support partners in doing so. Shah continued by saying that the business will give its partners strategic risk premium and value-added assistance. There are no outside investors listed. 

The fund will concentrate on the Mumbai, Chennai, Noida, and Hyderabad sectors because of the increasing demand in those locations, according to the Economic Times (ET). According to Shah, the business has already received offers from operators and developers of data centers. Shah continued, saying that the first close reflects the positive feedback they have thus far received. The money will be fully utilized during the following four years, and they anticipate finishing the fundraising process in the next six to nine months. Kotak has already expressed interest in the data center sector. To help fund the growth of its data centers, the firm bought $135 million in Indian internet service provider Sify in November 2021.