Global investment firm Blackstone has launched an Asian data centre platform with India as its first market.
The platform, known as Lumina CloudInfra will be owned and managed by Blackstone’s real estate and Tactical Opportunities funds.
Anil Reddy, former head of global cloud infrastructure at Microsoft, will head the Lumina platform and serve as global chief executive officer to lead the platform.
The Indian data centre business, which has two large-scale pipeline assets, will be led by Sujeet Deshpande as chief executive officer. Deshpande joined Blackstone from Colt Data Center Services where he was president and country head of India.
Blackstone aims to have 600MW capacity in India.
Reddy said: “The data centre sector is anchored by strong demand for data creation and storage around the world – particularly in India, where many of the fastest-growing companies are based.
“Demand is driven by India’s growing attraction as a technology and innovation hub, rapidly-increasing Internet and mobile consumption, and government initiatives to transform India into a digitally-empowered economy.
“As the digitalisation megatrend continues to accelerate, Lumina will look for opportunities to expand its footprint in India and other Asian markets.”
Jasvinder Khaira, head of digital infrastructure in Blackstone’s Tactical Opportunities Group, said: “The launch of Lumina showcases Blackstone’s strengths – scale, network, and sector expertise – to address India’s growing demand for mission-critical data infrastructure.
“Growth of the public and private cloud is one of our highest conviction investment themes globally, particularly in India, where many of our investments have centred around technology-enabled businesses and properties.”
Asheesh Mohta, head of real estate acquisitions in India for Blackstone, said Lumina was well-positioned to benefit from India’s digital transformation.
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