Nxtra by Airtel Tuesday said it has launched a new 38MW hyperscale data center (DC) in Chennai which is fully integrated with Airtel’s global submarine cable network, enabling it to offer end-to-end solutions to customers.

The new 38MW facility is spread over 270,000 sq. ft. and was virtually inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M.K. Stalin.

With this launch, Nxtra by Airtel now operates the largest network of data centers in India with 11 hyperscaler and 120 edge data centers, and also manages submarine landing stations, the Airtel subsidiary said in an official statement.

“Nxtra by Airtel is already serving large Indian and global customers from the city and we will continue to invest to expand our operations here. I compliment the State Government for providing an enabling environment and infrastructure support to set up this vital digital infrastructure,” said Ajay Chitkara, Director and CEO, Airtel Business.

WIth 5G around the cornere, a fast-growing digital economy, and enterprises transitioning to cloud and local data storage regulations, the Indian DC industry is seeing a strong demand, and is expected to more than double its installed capacity from 450MW to 1074MW by 2023.

The Airtel subsidiary had recently said that it will invest Rs 5,000 crores by 2025 to increase its capacity by three times to over 400MW.

This will include setting up hyperscale data center parks in key metro cities. Nxtra by Airtel is already scaling up use of green energy for its data centres and aims to source 50% of the power requirements of these centres through renewable sources as part of Airtel’s overall GHG emission reduction targets.