Behind AirTrunk’s Entry to India with Lumina Acquisition

AirTrunk is entering the Indian data centre market through the acquisition of Lumina CloudInfra, gaining access to one of the fastest-growing regions for hyperscale and AI infrastructure.

The deal provides AirTrunk with an immediate foothold in India, including Lumina’s development pipeline, customer relationships and operational capabilities. The portfolio includes around 600MW of planned capacity, representing up to US$5bn in future development.

Following the acquisition, AirTrunk’s total operating and planned capacity exceeds 3GW across 20 campuses in six markets – Australia, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong and now India. The expansion is supported by long-term capital backing from Blackstone and CPPIB.

Expanding into a high-growth data centre market

India’s data centre sector is scaling rapidly, driven by cloud adoption 5G rollout and data sovereignty requirements. Installed capacity is expected to rise from around 1.5GW in 2025 to approximately 10GW by 2030, creating strong demand for hyperscale facilities.

The country’s ambition to build sovereign AI capability through initiatives such as the IndiaAI Mission is also increasing the need for high-density infrastructure. These facilities are designed to support AI workloads, which require greater compute power and energy capacity than traditional enterprise applications.

Robin Khuda, Founder and CEO of AirTrunk, positions the acquisition as an important strategic step.

“India is one of the largest and fastest-growing markets for hyperscale and AI infrastructure worldwide, and expanding in this market is a significant milestone for AirTrunk’s broader APAC strategy,” says Robin. 

“By acquiring Lumina CloudInfra, we are uniquely positioned to deliver the scale, speed and performance our customers need as they expand across the APAC region.”

Combining global scale with local expertise

Lumina CloudInfra operates across three Tier 1 markets in India – Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad – that are all established data centre hubs with strong connectivity and enterprise demand.

The company brings an established development pipeline and experience in delivering AI-ready infrastructure. This includes facilities designed for energy efficiency and high-density workloads, both critical requirements for modern data centres.

By integrating Lumina into its platform, AirTrunk combines global hyperscale expertise with local market knowledge. This approach supports faster deployment of new campuses while maintaining operational standards across regions.

Sujeet Deshpande, Co-Founder and CEO of Lumina CloudInfra, outlines the rationale behind the combination. “Our team is excited to join AirTrunk as we continue building India’s digital infrastructure. Lumina enters this next chapter as a scaled operator with strong local capabilities, deep expertise and a proven delivery track record.

“By bringing our team together with AirTrunk, we combine local strength with global platforms in design, construction, operations, safety, quality and technology – along with access to AirTrunk’s global customer network and capital strength. Together, our teams will grow, delivering greater consistency, scale and opportunity for our people, customers and partners.”

Investment and infrastructure at scale

The acquisition also strengthens Blackstone’s data centre portfolio in Asia Pacific. As a long-term investor in digital infrastructure, the firm supports the capital requirements needed to build large-scale facilities.

Peng Wei Tan, Senior Managing Director for Real Estate at Blackstone, says: “This partnership marks a meaningful expansion of our data centre portfolio and reinforces one of Blackstone’s highest conviction themes, digital infrastructure.

"As the world’s largest investor in data centres with the leading platform in Asia Pacific, we deliver scale and deep expertise to meet the rising demand for high quality digital infrastructure across the region’s fastest growing economies.”

India’s growth trajectory presents both opportunity and complexity for operators. Delivering hyperscale campuses requires access to land power and connectivity, alongside the ability to meet regulatory requirements and customer expectations.

With Lumina’s existing presence and AirTrunk’s global platform, the combined business is positioned to accelerate the rollout of large-scale data centres designed for cloud and AI workloads across India’s key markets.