In an interview, Sudhir Kunder, Chief Business Officer of DE-CIX India, spokeabout how India’s rapidly expanding data centre ecosystem is accelerating the demand for neutral, scalable, and AI-ready interconnection infrastructure. He discussed DE-CIX India’s role in enabling the country’s AI ambitions, supporting edge growth across Tier II and III cities, powering hyperscaler requirements, strengthening mission-critical sectors, and positioning India as a sustainable digital gateway for the APAC region.
Read the full interview here:
TimesTech: India’s data centre capacity has crossed 1.3 GW and is set to grow massively over the next decade. How do you see this rapid expansion shaping the demand for interconnection services, and where does DE-CIX India fit into this growth story?
Sudhir: India’s data centre ecosystem is expanding at an unprecedented pace, with Mumbai alone projected to reach nearly 800 MW of capacity by year end, while India’s overall data centre capacity is expected to reach 1.8 GW by 2027.This scale-up is directly increasing the need for neutral, resilient, and high-capacity interconnection. As workloads shift deeper into data centres, enterprises, clouds, and networks require secure, predictable, and low-latency exchange points. DE-CIX India orchestrates at the core of this evolution by operating carrier- and data-centre-neutral interconnection across major metros, forming the essential fabric that supports India’s rapidly growing digital economy.
TimesTech: With the Government allocating over ₹10,700 crore towards AI infrastructure and digital hubs, what opportunities do you foresee for neutral interconnection platforms like DE-CIX to support this national AI ambition?
Sudhir: The Government’s investment of over ₹10,700 crore into AI infrastructure marks a decisive shift towards a nationally integrated AI ecosystem. DE-CIX is already ahead of this transition having launched the world’s first fully integrated AI Internet Exchange (AI-IX) in September 2025, simultaneously, the same innovation has been implemented at DE-CIX India as well. This platform is purpose-built for high-volume AI workloads, enabling fast, secure, and scalable data movement for model training, inference, and cross-cloud collaboration. Combined with services like DirectCLOUD and Cloud Router, DE-CIX provides the high-performance interconnection backbone needed to unlock India’s AI ambitions at scale.
TimesTech: Edge data centres are expected to triple by 2027, especially across Tier II and III cities. How is DE-CIX preparing to serve this shift toward distributed, low-latency infrastructure for AI and real-time applications?
Sudhir: As edge data centres expand across Tier II and III cities, DE-CIX India is strengthening its presence in emerging regional hubs to bring interconnection as close as possible to end users. Through our growing network of data-centre partnerships and a hybrid model of direct and indirect alliances, we ensure that regional ISPs, enterprises, and content providers can access the same low-latency, high-performance interconnection available in major metros. This distributed approach supports India’s next wave of digital inclusion while ensuring consistent user experiences across the country.
TimesTech: Hyperscalers are launching new AI-ready campuses across major cities, paired with rising rack power density due to GPU-heavy workloads. How is DE-CIX evolving its interconnection services to meet the high-bandwidth, high-density needs of hyperscalers and AI workloads?
Sudhir: Hyperscalers are building AI-ready campuses with rising rack densities driven by GPU-heavy compute. DE-CIX is adapting its interconnection fabric to these evolving needs with scalable, bandwidth-rich, SLA-driven services capable of supporting terabit-level traffic. Our architecture enables seamless cloud-to-cloud and cloud-to-enterprise paths, tailored for the intense throughput and reliability demands of AI workloads.
TimesTech: As enterprises prioritise secure, high-performance private data exchange, how is DE-CIX strengthening India’s interconnection ecosystem to support mission-critical AI-driven sectors such as healthcare, education, and agriculture?
Sudhir: Mission-critical, AI-driven sectors such as healthcare, education, and agriculture increasingly rely on secure private data exchange. DE-CIX enhances this ecosystem with encrypted, deterministic interconnection and advanced DCI capabilities. Several large enterprises and regulated environments already use our platform to move sensitive workloads efficiently and compliantly across multi-cloud and multi-data-centre environments.
TimesTech: With subsea cable capacity surging and sustainability becoming a key mandate for data centres, what role can DE-CIX India play in making the country a stronger digital gateway for APAC while enabling greener and more efficient data traffic exchange?
Sudhir: DE-CIX India plays a strategic role in strengthening the country’s position as a key digital gateway for the APAC region. Through collaboration with global submarine cable providers, we optimise international traffic flows, reduce reliance on inefficient long-haul routes, and improve cross-regional resilience. By enabling more localised, energy-efficient routing, we help minimise the carbon impact of data movement. Additionally, our connectivity to coastal cable landing hubs, such as Mumbai and Chennai, anchors India firmly within the global subsea ecosystem while supporting greener, future-ready interconnection.
