Bharti Airtel on March 30, 2026, announced a $1 billion data center investment in its subsidiary Nxtra Data Ltd., with participation from Alpha Wave Global, Carlyle, Anchorage Capital, and Airtel itself. The company said the deal is meant to expand Nxtra’s network in India and support its next phase of growth. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and values Nxtra at about $3.1 billion after closing.
According to Airtel’s filing, Alpha Wave Global will invest $435 million, Carlyle $240 million, Anchorage Capital $35 million, and Airtel the remaining amount. Airtel said it will continue to hold a controlling stake in Nxtra after the transaction. Reuters reported the same structure and valuation, describing the move as part of a wider push into India’s data infrastructure market.
The company said the funding will be used to scale infrastructure and expand services. In practical terms, that means building more capacity for enterprises, hyperscalers, and government users at a time when India’s digital infrastructure demand is rising. Airtel also said Nxtra will use the capital to accelerate growth plans and broaden its service portfolio.
Nxtra is Bharti Airtel’s data center arm. Nxtra said it operates 14 large core data centers and more than 120 edge facilities across India, offering co-location, cloud infrastructure, managed hosting, data backup, disaster recovery, and edge computing services. Airtel also said Nxtra has a capacity of about 300 MW today and aims to scale to 1 GW in the coming years. The company said Nxtra is already using AI at scale for predictive maintenance, energy efficiency, and automated operations.
The deal comes as Indian conglomerates continue to invest in data infrastructure, with the country increasingly viewed as an emerging hub for AI development. Airtel’s filing also cited a Savills India estimate that India’s data center market could grow at a compound annual rate of around 21% between 2024 and 2030, reaching nearly 3,400 MW of IT capacity.
