Equinix has officially expanded its footprint in India with the launch of its first International Business Exchange (IBX) data center in Chennai, marking a significant development in the country’s growing digital infrastructure landscape.
The new Equinix facility, known as CN1, is located on a nearly six-acre site in Siruseri, Tamil Nadu, and has been designed to serve as a critical hub for enterprises seeking to scale digital services in one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.
India’s position as a strategic market for global technology players continues to strengthen, driven by rapid cloud adoption, a robust data sovereignty framework, and growing investments in artificial intelligence. With Chennai emerging as a focal point for research, innovation, and AI deployment, the opening of CN1 is being framed as a milestone in supporting India’s ambition to become a global leader in digital services. The facility is intended to deliver the computing capacity and interconnection required to support advanced workloads, from AI training to high-performance data analytics.
Equinix has invested approximately US$69 million in the project, with CN1 initially offering 800 cabinets of capacity. Over time, the data center is expected to scale up to 4,250 cabinets, housed within a four-story building purpose-built for enterprise-grade resilience and scalability. The design is AI-ready, with support for liquid cooling technologies to manage the high-density, compute-intensive workloads that modern AI models demand. Reliability has also been prioritized, with CN1 engineered to deliver 99.999 percent uptime.
The new facility is interconnected with Equinix’s existing Mumbai campus, which consists of three IBX data centers hosting a robust digital ecosystem of network providers, internet exchanges, and native on-ramps to hyperscale cloud platforms such as AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and Oracle Cloud. For enterprises operating in Chennai, CN1 provides low-latency access to this ecosystem, allowing businesses to scale hybrid multicloud strategies while ensuring secure, direct connectivity to partners and providers.
Sustainable Colocation Services India
Equinix already works with more than 300 companies in India, including five Internet Exchanges (IXs) and a range of network service providers. The Chennai expansion extends its ecosystem approach beyond Mumbai, creating additional pathways for enterprises to tap into both regional and global markets. Its location in the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT) area places CN1 close to anticipated submarine cable landing sites, enhancing its role as a future hub for international connectivity.
Sustainability is also a key part of the project. Equinix reported reaching 96 percent renewable energy coverage across its global operations in 2024, including India, and CN1 has been designed with efficiency in mind. By integrating advanced cooling technologies and leveraging renewable energy, the facility aligns with the company’s broader climate commitments while supporting India’s sustainability goals.
Globally, Equinix operates more than 270 data centers across 77 markets in 36 countries, serving over 10,000 customers. Its Asia-Pacific portfolio now includes over 60 data centers in major markets across the region, supporting industries from finance to cloud and content delivery. The addition of CN1 in Chennai demonstrates how global operators are responding to the surging demand for digital infrastructure in India, where enterprises, cloud providers, and research institutions alike are looking to secure the capacity required to power future AI and digital transformation initiatives.
With its strategic positioning, high-density capacity, and direct connectivity to one of the world’s most dynamic digital economies, CN1 would represent a critical step in Equinix’s expansion in India.
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