Blackstone Group, a global asset manager, has entered the data centre business in Asia, beginning with a maiden venture in India with a planned capacity of 600 MW across two large hyperscale data centres.

Blackstone’s Real Estate and Tactical Opportunities funds will own and manage Lumina CloudInfra, a data centre platform established by the New York-based investor. Anil Reddy, former Microsoft Inc. head of Global Cloud Infrastructure, will lead the platform as global CEO, leading its strategy, expansion, and growth across Asia. Sujeet Deshpande, who joined from Colt Data Center Services, is the CEO of the Indian operation.

According to Blackstone, the launch of Lumina reflects the company’s continued focus on global data infrastructure and commitment to expanding its presence in Asia.

The 600 MW data centre capacity will be built in Mumbai and Chennai. Blackstone is in the process of acquiring two data centres in Navi Mumbai, in Airoli and Mahape, and in Chennai, it is in the process of acquiring a land parcel to set up a center. It will later expand to Pune, Hyderabad, and the National Capital Region (NCR).

Blackstone’s current digital infrastructure investments include QTS Realty Trust in the United States, which it purchased in 2021 for approximately $10 billion, a string of data centres in Japan on long-term contracts with top cloud service providers, Phoenix Towers International, a private cell tower platform in the United States and Europe, and Hotwire Communications, a pioneer in fibre optic technology.

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