Colt DCS is all set to enter the burgeoning Indian market with the imminent launch of a data centre in Mumbai, before moving to further expand its global portfolio. In doing this, the company will have its sights firmly set on sustainability, alongside high-quality customer service, and health and safety.
With the imminent launch of its data centre in Mumbai, Colt Data Centre Services (DCS) will mark its entry into the Indian data centre market.
As a country, India is experiencing exponential digital growth, and is fast becoming a major economic and digital hub in Asia. Data use there is skyrocketing, driven by its 658 million internet users – and this figure is only set to grow, boosted by a booming tech and business services sector in the country that is predicted to be worth $19.93 billion by the end of 2025.
In terms of sustainability, the Mumbai data centre has attained an industry-first certification from the Maharashtra State Electricity Board recognising that the facility will run on 100% renewable energy. This green energy certification means that the electricity being consumed in the data centre is powered by such energy sources, including wind, solar and hydropower, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
The certification also builds on Colt DCS’s net-zero strategy and is in line with its goals for reducing Scope 2 emissions, relating to emissions that a company indirectly causes when the energy it purchases and uses is produced. As part of that strategy, the global hyperscale data centre provider aims to become carbon net zero by 2045 through the implementation of carbonreduction programmes accredited by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) in the future.
Sustainability was a crucial consideration throughout the design of the Mumbai site, with Colt DCS wanting to assist its customers in reducing their carbon emissions and ultimately supporting them in meeting their own sustainability targets. As testament to its focus on driving sustainability, the company is also looking to achieve further certifications reflecting improvements in its market offering, such as accreditations from the International Organization for Standardization and the Indian Green Building Council.
Digital India
In the wake of the Digital India initiative, which aims to improve digital literacy and connectivity to rural areas, the country has become one of the world’s fastest-growing digital economies. To be as impactful as possible in this new market, Colt DCS hired a pool of local expertise to harness deep experience and knowledge of the region and its challenges.
The company believes that strategy has given it a competitive edge when acquiring materials, deploying contractors, and putting in place stringent compliance and design conditions that live up to its global standards. As Colt DCS looks to expand its portfolio across India, it will build on its in-house team of experts, who are part of a wider global team, to help drive a seamless customer experience at the Mumbai facility.
The company endeavours to choose the most accessible locations when adding to its portfolio and the new opening in Navi Mumbai is no exception. It offers great access to all the resources needed to run a data centre, including a carrier-diverse fibre network, water access and resilient power connectivity. Furthermore, as factors that help ensure services are never interrupted, the location is 5 nautical miles from the nearest flight path and in a Zone III seismic region, meaning it is relatively stable from an earthquake perspective.
The data centre itself, which spans 62,490 square metres, is made up of 10 data centre buildings and 40 data halls. The site has 40,000 square metres of white sellable space available for customers, with a rack space of 20,000-plus. The location’s total capacity will be 120MW, with 18MW available in phase one. That take-up so far reflects Colt DCS’s attractiveness to global hyperscale and large enterprise customers, as well as the demand for data centres in India.
Meanwhile, the site is also equipped with a dedicated substation within the plot boundary that will have two power transformers with 150MVA available from day one. In addition, areas of the data centre can be designed specially to facilitate a customer’s specific requirements.
Ambition and delivery
In terms of Colt DCS’s wider strategy beyond just innovative facilities, this focuses on three key areas: customer service, health and safety, and sustainability.
In 2022, the company was recognised by Frost & Sullivan with an award for Global Data Centre Infrastructure and Operations Customer Value Leadership, reflecting its proactivity in delivering exceptional customer service across its portfolio. This has also been recognised through Colt DCS achieving a net promoter score of 72 across its existing portfolio.
Across all locations, the company’s customers have roundthe-clock access to service requests and human assistance as and when they need it – aligning with its vision of being the industry’s most trusted and customer-centric provider.
When it comes to health and safety, the welfare of everyone involved in data-centre processes is a key priority, from activities like buying the land to running and maintaining a successful facility. Colt DCS uses a design-based approach to eliminate risk factors before work has even started and conducts a thorough risk assessment prior to each activity.
To continually improve on-site health and safety standards, debriefs also take place to share best practices, while facilities are externally reviewed and audited on a regular basis to ensure the best possible standards across the portfolio.
Green and growing
Beyond the high sustainability achievements in the Mumbai campus, green practices form a central part of Colt DCS’s global strategy at all levels of the organisation. As well as having a range of green energy solutions, the company set its near-term targets in line with the SBTi in a move aimed at ensuring the sustainability strategy was implemented in the most impactful manner.
The opening of the Mumbai data centre in the second quarter of this year will mark the first of several others that are due to follow. This comes after Colt DCS early last year announced the acquisition of 10 new parcels of land across Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.
The company is also set to dramatically increase the capacity of its global portfolio, with more than 500MVA of secured power to support the development of its new hyperscale data centres. It will continue to look for new ways to deliver the very best customer service standards and meet customer requirements in new and existing markets.
This new opening in Mumbai delivers the exceptional standard Colt DCS customers have come to expect and will continue to serve hyperscale growth in India.
