India Data Center Cooling - Market Share Analysis, Industry Trends & Statistics, Growth Forecasts (2024 - 2030)

The India Data Center Cooling Market size is estimated at USD 1.93 billion in 2024, and is expected to reach USD 6.74 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 23.21% during the forecast period (2024-2030).

Key Highlights

• The increasing demand for cloud computing among SMEs, government regulations for local data security, and growing investment by domestic players are some of the major factors driving the demand for data centers in India.
• The upcoming IT load capacity of the Indian data center market is expected to reach more than 4,700 MW by 2030. The country's construction of raised floor area is expected to increase above 14.2 million sq. ft by 2030.
• The total number of racks to be installed in the country is expected to reach over 7,10,000 units by 2030. Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, NCR, and Pune are expected to house the maximum number of racks by 2030. The average annual temperature ranges between 24 degrees Celsius and 29 degrees Celsius. Many DC operators are increasing the utilization of liquid cooling solutions as they are much more efficient in handling HPC workloads. India is experiencing high HPC post the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is expected to increase and boost the demand in the market studied.
• There are close to 44 submarine cable systems connecting India, and many are under construction. For instance, in January 2024, NEC Corporation India, in collaboration with NEC Corporation, successfully finalized the installation of a cutting-edge optical submarine cable system in Southern India. This system links the bustling port city of Kochi with 11 of the Lakshadweep islands, including Agatti, Andrott, and Kavaratti. The primary goal of this initiative is to bolster voice and data connectivity, catering to a range of needs from e-governance to e-commerce. This is projected to increase data generation, which would increase the use of efficient cooling solutions in the data center industry in India to cater to the rising heat generation.

India Data Center Cooling Market Trends

Liquid-based Cooling is the Fastest Growing Segment

• Direct liquid cooling (DLC) solutions consistently achieve impressive partial power usage effectiveness (PUE) ratings, typically ranging from 1.02 to 1.03. This places them ahead of even the most efficient air cooling systems, surpassing them by a slight margin, usually in the low single-digit percentage range. It is important to note that while PUE improvement is a significant benefit of DLC, it does not account for the majority of its energy efficiency gains.
• In January 2023, NTT achieved a significant milestone in Indian data center sustainability by introducing liquid immersion cooling and direct contact liquid cooling technologies. This deployment at its Navi Mumbai Data Center not only marked the first time these technologies were used in a production environment in India but also was the largest implementation of its kind in the APAC data center market. By leveraging these innovations, NTT's data centers are poised to achieve up to a 30% increase in energy efficiency compared to traditional cooling systems.
• Indian organizations and data center providers are making significant efforts to increase the power efficiency of their market-leading data centers. Water-based refrigeration, a sub-segment of liquid-based refrigeration, is the most widely used cooling system and is commonly used in chillers, condensers, and economizers.
• Technological advances have made liquid cooling easier to maintain, more scalable, and more affordable, reducing the liquid consumption of data centers by more than 15% in tropical climates and by 80% in greener areas. The energy used for liquid cooling can be recycled to heat buildings and water, and advanced artificial refrigerants can effectively reduce the carbon footprint of air conditioners.

IT and Telecom is the Largest Segment

• The Indian government is dedicated to establishing an enabling political and regulatory environment to facilitate the continued expansion of key technologies such as 5G, Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, blockchain, and machine-to-machine (M2M) communications. This commitment is fueled by the remarkable growth of the information and communication technology (ICT) sector in India and its substantial contributions to the country's socio-economic progress.
• It is imperative for the government to formulate and implement the right policies to harness the potential of the ICT sector, making it a prominent driver of India's economic growth. Advancements in these technological domains are poised to propel the research and development market within the region, further bolstering India's position as a hub for innovation and technological progress.
• Since the pandemic, cloud computing has evolved into a mission-critical technology for businesses, governments, and consumers. Not only is this the underlying technology for digital transformation, but it also enables innovation and collaboration among stakeholders in the ecosystem. During the pandemic, 53% of organizations increased cloud adoption year-over-year. In addition, 84% of organizations adopted SaaS.
• Most Indian people are switching to online payment methods. The volume of total digital payment transactions increased from 2,071 crores in FY 2017-18 to 13,462 crores in FY 2022-23, recording a CAGR of 45%. During FY 2023-24, digital payment transactions reached 11,660 crores till December 2023.
• According to IBEF, India's infrastructure and information technology sectors are likely to be central to it becoming a USD 10 trillion economy by 2030. While leading multinational Indian companies, such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro, Infotech, Cognizant, and Infosys, dominate the IT sector in India, the country houses many small and medium-sized players (SMEs) that contribute to over 30% of the country's IT exports. Such factors are expected to lead to the growth of the overall data center industry in India.

India Data Center Cooling Industry Overview

The Indian data center cooling market is moderately competitive and has gained a competitive edge in recent years. In terms of market share, a few major players, including Stulz GmbH, Schneider Electric SE, Vertiv Group Corp., Rittal GmbH & Co. KG, and Iceotope Technologies Limited, currently dominate the market.

In March 2023, STULZ, a Hamburg-based company specializing in mission-critical air conditioning, made a significant announcement regarding its industry-leading CyberAir 3PRO DX series. The company revealed that certain units within this series were compatible with the low-global-warming-potential (GWP) refrigerant R513A. This groundbreaking development underscored STULZ's unwavering commitment to delivering the most sustainable air conditioning solutions for data centers. The company also implemented additional product transitions across its portfolio to further incorporate the use of the R513A refrigerant.

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• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
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