Global private equity giant Blackstone this week signed three memoranda of understanding with the government of Maharashtra, entailing investments of about $11 billion (nearly Rs 95,000 crore) in the state over the next three to five years for the development of infrastructure assets. These agreements were signed in Davos, Switzerland, during the ongoing World Economic Forum.
The PE investor has signed the pacts with Maharashtra state government authorities – Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) and Panchshil Realty’s joint venture entailing an investment of nearly $3 billion, City & Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO) with a similar investment size, and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).
The deal, signed by Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis at WEF, would lead to the development of infrastructure assets including data centers and warehousing and industrial assets.
This is part of the over 60 MoUs signed by the state government with both domestic and international investors at the forum, which may entail an investment of Rs 15.7 lakh crore or about $180 billion in the state, the chief minister said in a post on social network X.
Among Blackstone’s current data center portfolio in India, it is developing two hyperscale data centers in Navi Mumbai with a total capacity of 60 megawatts. Its overall real assets portfolio in India is valued at about $30 billion
According to Savills India, in 2024, India witnessed an absorption of 407 MW IT capacity and the addition of 191 MW IT capacity across key cities. This demand is fueled by hyperscalers, BFSI (Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance), IT & ITeS, and service sectors.
“India is experiencing a surge in data centre land transactions, driven by growing demand and expansions by data centre operators and hyperscalers acquiring land across key cities. In 2024, over 200 acres of land were acquired in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai and Bengaluru,” it said.
