Adani Enterprises (AEL), the flagship company of billionaire Gautam Adani, is gearing up for a significant expansion in its data centre business. AdaniConneX, the joint venture between AEL and Sweden's EQT-owned EdgeConneX, plans to invest $5 billion over the next five years, according to a report in the Economic Times.
The report states that more than half of this investment could be allocated within this year alone. Promoter equity infusions are expected to account for approximately a quarter of the total investment.
By 2030, AdaniConneX aims to develop a data centre capacity of 1 GW. To support its ambitious growth plans, the company is currently in discussions with several international banks to secure an offshore loan in the range of $1.2-1.4 billion. The transaction is expected to be finalized in the coming weeks, the report said.
AdaniConnex, which has only one operational data center in Chennai so far, has completed almost two-thirds of the construction in the Noida and Hyderabad facilities, according to a November 2 investor presentation.
Chennai's phase 2 development is also underway while land acquisition is on for Hyderabad and Navi Mumbai. The joint venture firm raised $213 million debt in June.
The decision to expand the data centre business follows an investigation by markets regulator SEBI which cleared the Adani Group of all allegations made by the US short-seller Hindenburg.
The Supreme Court also said the report by the OCCRP - an organisation funded by billionaire George Soros, among others - can't be the basis for doubting the capital markets regulator SEBI's investigation into the Hindenburg case.
The Adani Group had termed the report a "malicious combination of selective misinformation and concealed facts relating to baseless and discredited allegations to drive an ulterior motive".
(Disclaimer: New Delhi Television is a subsidiary of AMG Media Networks Limited, an Adani Group Company.)
