Bharti Airtel announced a significant equity investment of US$1 Billion into its subsidiary, Nxtra Data Limited, focusing on accelerating AI and data center expansion across India. The investment is led by Alpha Wave Global, Carlyle, and Anchorage Capital, with Bharti Airtel also participating. This funding round values Nxtra at approximately US$3.1 Billion post-closing. The capital will be used to scale Nxtra’s infrastructure from 300 MW capacity to 1 GW.
Major Investment in Nxtra Data
Bharti Airtel today confirmed an investment totaling US$1 Billion into Nxtra Data Limited, its subsidiary focused on data center operations. This strategic capital infusion comes from global investors including Alpha Wave Global (investing US$435 million), Carlyle (investing US$240 million), and Anchorage Capital (investing US$35 million), with the remainder being infused by Airtel itself.
Following the transaction, Nxtra Data will be valued at around US$3.1 Billion. Airtel confirms it will continue to retain a controlling stake in Nxtra, with the final shareholding subject to post-closing adjustments.
Fueling AI and Data Center Expansion
Nxtra is positioned as India’s first data center company deploying AI at scale for optimization purposes. The incoming funds are designated to accelerate Nxtra’s growth plans, specifically to scale its infrastructure and broaden its service portfolio for enterprises, hyperscalers, and government organizations.
Gopal Vittal, Executive Vice Chairman, Airtel, highlighted the ambition: “With ~300 MW capacity today, we aim to scale to 1 GW in the next few years, targeting ~25% market share.” This aligns with the projection that India’s data center market is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 21% between 2024 and 2030.
Investor Confidence
Investors expressed strong confidence in the long-term growth trajectory of India’s digital infrastructure. Kapil Modi of Carlyle noted the goal of building Nxtra into one of the largest datacenter players in India. Rick Gerson of Alpha Wave Global cited excitement in partnering with the Bharti Group, emphasizing Nxtra’s scaling potential.
Current Operations and Approvals
As detailed in the supplementary filing, Nxtra currently operates 14 large core data centers and over 120 edge facilities across India, offering comprehensive services including co-location and managed hosting. Nxtra is also developing major AI-ready campuses, having recently partnered with Google for a gigawatt-scale AI data center campus backed by a $15-billion investment.
The corporate investment, which involves the acquisition of additional shares, constitutes a related party transaction under applicable laws but will be conducted on arm’s length terms. The transaction received approval from The Special Committee of Directors on March 30, 2026, between IST 1715 Hrs. and IST 1815 Hrs. The cash consideration for Airtel’s direct investment in Nxtra Data, basis the fair valuation, is approximately ~USD 290 Mn.
Source: BSE
