The move will open up funding avenues for the sector, besides making them eligible for incentives and credit availability
New Delhi, NFAPost: Technology and IT services were prioritised in Budget 2022, not only in terms of integrating them into various aspects of governance for better efficiency but also in enhancing these sectors through policies and fund allocation.
In an attempt to boost this sector, the government is adding data centers to harmonising the list of infrastructure, making them eligible for incentives and credit availability.
The move was well-received by the industry stakeholders as it will open up various funding channels for the sector.
CtrlS Datacenters Founder and CEO Sridhar Pinnapureddy said Data centres being granted the infrastructure status is welcome news.
“It will help attract external commercial borrowings, access to long-tenure funds at lower costs, including foreign direct investment. With the planned roll-out of digital universities, digital banks, digital rupee through blockchain, thrust on digital payments, and OFC deployment through Bharatnet across all villages will lead to explosion of data across rural, urban areas and hence data centers are poised to play a key role in shaping the future of Digital India,” said CtrlS Datacenters Founder and CEO Sridhar Pinnapureddy.
Schneider Electric India and SAARC VP and Country General Manager Secure Power Division Sachin Bhalla said the growth and prowess witnessed in the data center market across the country presents enormous opportunities for businesses and industries alike to reap scalable benefits and drive growth and profit in tandem.
“The Union Budget 2022 presented by the honourable Finance Minister to grant infrastructure status to data centers and energy storage systems in order to facilitate financing for the industry is a step in the right direction. This intervention will be instrumental for the sector as it advances towards harnessing its increased potential and technological advancements,” said Sachin Bhalla.
As we enter the new era of Digital India, Sachin Bhalla said India must focus on recognising, addressing, and overcoming environmental challenges, as well as developing a blueprint for navigating the future of sustainable data centre solutions.
According to research conducted by JLL, the capacity of India’s colocation data center industry is expected to double by next year; 2023. This in turn, would necessitate the requirement for more than five million square feet of real estate to empower the burgeoning industry.
“Today’s announcement puts data center development at par with other major sectors in terms of access to long-term and low-cost credit, thereby accelerating efforts towards data localization. We will continue to align with the Government of India’s landmark Aatmanirbhar Bharat vision to promote conscious, clean, and sustainable technology solutions that are self-sufficient and driven by innovation,” said Schneider Electric India and SAARC VP and Country General Manager Secure Power Division Sachin Bhalla.
He also highlighted that the solutions that we devise today will shape our future tomorrow as we envision and redefine resilience and operational excellence powered by cutting-edge technologies in data center operations of the future.
NTT Ltd India Managing Director Sharad Sanghi said to support the investment cycle, the Union Budget 2022-23 has significantly increased the allocation for capital expenditure by 35.4% to Rs. 7.5 trillion, which will have a multiplier effect on the economy.
“With a growing dependence of businesses on digital infrastructure I am delighted that data centres are finally being given the status of infrastructure. Optimistically, I hope that soon they will also get the official status of essential services,” said NTT Ltd India Managing Director Sharad Sanghi.
NTT Ltd India Managing Director Sharad Sanghi said the budget also accords infrastructure status to energy storage systems, and provides additional incentives of 19500 crores for setting up integrated solar module units to meet ambitious target 280 GW of solar power. “This highlights the government’s commitment towards green energy, sustainable development and climate change initiatives,” said NTT Ltd India Managing Director Sharad Sanghi.
Misses
IT Industry body Nasscom said that the Budget is focused on providing India with a strong foundation for the techade and establishing it as a global hub in terms of technology innovation.
“There were certain points that have been left unaddressed, like – additional focus on industry led R&D in emerging technologies, enabling clarifications to allow units in SEZs flexibility to adopt hybrid work model, easing the taxation of ESOPs by making the taxation regime available to all DPIIT-recognised start-ups and taxing employees only when they sell the shares. Lack of action on enabling direct foreign listing, and tax parity between domestic and foreign investors are some other things that we believe were not included in the Budget,” Nasscom said.
