Mumbai becomes world's second-cheapest city to build data centres; strengthening India’s tech rise

India's data centre game just got interesting! According to Turner & Townsend's latest report, Mumbai now ranks as the second-lowest-cost region globally for data centre construction in 2025, with costs at just USD 6.64 per watt, significantly cheaper than Tokyo, Singapore, and Zurich. Combined with electricity tariffs 50% cheaper than Shanghai, this positions India competitively in the global market.

This cost benefit comes at a pivotal moment. India produces 20% of the world’s data but only hosts 3% of global data centre capacity, signalling a massive opportunity for expansion. Investment commitments are already at $94 billion, with $30 billion pledged in 2025 alone. Mumbai leads the charge, accounting for 53% of the country’s operational capacity. Following Mumbai, Chennai (20%), Delhi-NCR (10%), and Bengaluru (7%) collectively account for nearly 90% of the country's total data centre capacity, according to the CBRE report.

However, challenges remain. Experts highlight the need for reliable power, resilient supply chains, and energy-efficient cooling solutions to sustain growth, especially as demand for AI-ready facilities surges.