Equinix, Inc., one of the world’s digital infrastructure company®, has expanded its footprint in India with the launch of its first International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data center in Chennai, CN1. CN1 is strategically located in Siruseri on a six-acre plot. It connects with Equinix’s three IBX facilities in Mumbai, reinforcing India’s digital backbone and accelerating AI innovation.
A $69 Million Investment in Future-Ready Infrastructure
Equinix has invested $69 million in CN1, which begins operations with 800 cabinets of capacity and will scale to 4,250 cabinets. The facility is engineered to deliver 99.999% uptime reliability. It also features a comprehensive suite of interconnection services, including Equinix Fabric®, which enables enterprises to fully harness hybrid multicloud environments. CN1 is designed to handle the most demanding workloads. It also supports liquid cooling technology, which is essential for high-density, compute-intensive AI applications and other transformative technologies.
Chennai: India’s Emerging AI Hub
Tamil Nadu is strengthening its position as a center for innovation, research, and AI investment. As a result, Chennai is fast becoming the nation’s focal point for digital transformation. With CN1, Equinix positions the city at the heart of India’s efforts to enhance global competitiveness in AI, cloud, and digital services. India’s ambition to be a global leader in AI, quantum computing, blockchain, and edge technologies depends on a resilient digital infrastructure. The launch of CN1 marks a pivotal milestone in building the capacity needed to support these high-growth sectors.
Expanding India’s Digital Ecosystem
Equinix already supports 300+ companies in India, including leading network service providers and five internet exchanges. Its Mumbai campus offers direct on-ramps to major cloud platforms — AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and Oracle Cloud. With CN1’s integration into this ecosystem, Chennai customers gain low-latency connectivity to business partners, providers, and global enterprises. This ensures secure and seamless digital operations.
A Commitment to Growth and Sustainability
Manoj Paul, Managing Director, India, Equinix, said, “We are delighted to launch our state-of-the-art IBX data center, CN1, in Chennai. This launch expands Equinix in India and takes a pivotal step in advancing the nation’s digitalization journey. We will now extend our successful interconnected ecosystem for cloud, carrier, content, and enterprises from Mumbai to customers in Tamil Nadu.”
Similarly, global enterprises planning to come closer to their customers in southern India now can leverage Equinix’s IBX facility in Chennai. This milestone highlights our commitment to empowering India’s position as a global technology hub. We also ensure that sustainability and innovation remain at the core of our operations. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the Tamil Nadu Government in general and Industries Department, Guidance and SIPCOT for their unwavering support throughout our planning and construction period, making this vision a reality. With CN1’s cutting-edge capabilities, we look forward to enabling businesses in Chennai and across India to leverage future-ready, scalable and digital infrastructure that supports sustainability to expand their business in Tamil Nadu and globally.”
Powering India’s Digital Future
As per the press release, Equinix has launched CN1. This launch strengthens its role as a key enabler of India’s AI-driven growth. The facility empowers enterprises with scalable, sustainable infrastructure. It helps them remain agile and globally competitive in the digital economy.
