Intelligent Data Centres Issue 79 | Page 12

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INDIA REIGNITES PUSH FOR NATIONAL DATA CENTRE POLICY

India’ s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology( MeitY) has restarted consultations on its draft national data centre policy, five years after it was first announced, The Economic Times of India, has reported.

The government is seeking to update its approach to attracting investment in the sector, which has seen rapid expansion, fuelled largely by AI-led growth. A limited stakeholder meeting took place recently, with industry representatives asked to submit recommendations. The original policy was intended to make India a more favourable location for data centres by providing single-window permissions, streamlining approvals, and offering incentives.
Despite many of the draft policy’ s suggestions, such as dedicated‘ Data Centre Economic Zones’, being discussed, a significant challenge remains: securing permissions. While ten states have their own policies offering single-window clearance, obtaining the necessary approvals can still be a lengthy and complex process requiring over 30 separate permissions.
This complexity influences where companies choose to build. According to a Colliers India report, roughly 80 % of India’ s data centre capacity is concentrated in three major metropolitan
areas. The government is now keen to distribute this capacity more evenly and plans to adopt elements from successful state-level policies. India’ s data centre capacity, which currently stands at 1,263 MW, is projected to exceed 4,500 MW by 2030, with an anticipated investment of up to $ 25 billion.

AVAIO Digital has announced a significant development milestone for its new data centre campus in Algete, Madrid.

The € 650 million project, known as the Algete Data Hub, is now fully entitled and has secured power, positioning it as a new AI-ready facility in one of Europe’ s fastest-growing digital corridors. and a water-efficient air-cooling system. AVAIO Digital noted that the project involves the environmentally-friendly redevelopment of a former industrial site, helping to cement Algete’ s position as an emerging data centre hub. �
The first phase, a hyperscale data centre named AVAIO Digital Scorpio, is designed to be flexible, supporting both conventional cloud computing and high-density AI workloads.
The facility has secured 56.3 MW of clean energy from Spain’ s leading power company, Iberdrola, with an initial 8 MW to be delivered by 2028.
The project is expected to create over 500 construction jobs and around 50 permanent on-site positions, contributing to Spain’ s expanding technology sector.
The Algete location provides low-latency connectivity to Madrid’ s existing data centre clusters and the national fibre network, as well as international markets via subsea cables.
The new facility will also incorporate sustainable design principles, including rainwater capture, rooftop solar panels,
AVAIO DIGITAL BREAKS GROUND ON MAJOR AI-READY HUB IN MADRID
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