Tech giant Microsoft has acquired a 25-acre commercial plot to set up a hyper-scale data centre in Maharashtra’s Pune. As per data accessed by Propstack, the tech giant has acquired the commercial plot from Finolex Industries.
The plot in Pune’s Pimpri-Waghere neighbourhood has been purchased for close to Rs 329 crore. The Pune-based firm has transferred its leasehold rights of this particular plot to Microsoft Corporation for the next 37 years, until August 2059. The property has the potential to develop a hyper-scale cloud capacity data centre with a built-out capacity of 100 MW.
“Pune is ideal for setting up large campuses due to the availability of quality real estate, affordable housing, and human resources. However, many corporates have preferred Bengaluru and recently Hyderabad for their expansions. This transaction could be the start of Pune emerging as a strong contender,” Raja Seetharaman, co-founder of Propstack, told Moneycontrol.
The documents indicated that Microsoft had reportedly paid a stamp duty of Rs 16.44 crore on the transaction. However, an official confirmation of the deal is awaited from the tech giant. The multi-nation company has also not revealed the total investment it will be making at the data centre
Microsoft is also working on data centres in Hyderabad and has already signed a pact with the Telangana government.
Data centres have been evolving as the most appealing growth opportunity for international investors and leading developers in India as the country’s digitisation accelerates. The country has been witnessing investment poring in the data centre markets, with multiple new markets emerging, as well as the rapid expansion of campus sizes in the world’s most established cities.
Earlier, Mastercard Technology had leased over 400,000 square feet of space in a commercial building in Pune. The lease for 20 years has rent starting at Rs 4.12 crore per month.
For the first nine months of 2022 (January-September 2022), net absorption for India’s office space reached a three-year high of 30.3 million square feet, supported by strong supply completions and healthy pre-commitments.
According to JLL’s Office Market Update-Q3, 2022, net absorption for the July-September quarter increased by 11% Q-o-Q to 9.86 million square feet. The gross leasing activity in Pune reached 3.7 million square feet in Q1-Q3, 2022, up from 2.3 million square feet in Q1-Q3, 2021.
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