Blackstone-owned AirTrunk to build data center in India amid AI boom

Australian data-center operator AirTrunk plans to build its next facility in India to meet surging demand from the artificial intelligence boom, Bloomberg reported, citing founder and Chief Executive Officer Robin Khuda.

Khuda noted that construction plans for India are already “pretty advanced,” adding that the country’s 1.5 billion population and its digitally active youth make it a compelling market for data infrastructure growth.

AirTrunk, acquired by Blackstone Inc. last year in a deal valued at A$24 billion ($16 billion), aims to expand its footprint across Asia as investors pour billions into AI-driven platforms such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT. In August, the company closed a A$16 billion refinancing to support new projects and existing operations in Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore, Bloomberg reported.


“This is the single-biggest gold rush in human history,” Khuda said at a Forbes conference in Sydney on Thursday, referring to the global wave of AI investments. He further noted that Asia’s demand is large enough to sustain multiple players, and said, “It’s not like there’s only one winner who will take home everything.”

According to Bloomberg, Khuda estimated that the data-center sector will require hundreds of billions of dollars in capital to meet future needs. The Blackstone-AirTrunk deal, finalized in 2024, was the private equity firm’s largest-ever investment in the Asia-Pacific region and among the world’s biggest digital infrastructure acquisitions.

However, Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman recently cautioned that the electricity needed to power expanding data centers could face supply constraints, underscoring a major challenge for the industry’s next phase of growth.

Blackstone has been among the largest investors in India, managing over $50 billion in assets since entering the market. Nearly 40% of these funds have gone into Maharashtra, making it a major beneficiary of Blackstone’s investments.

The firm has also made aggressive bets on real estate, committing over $20 billion to the Indian property market across key cities including Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, the National Capital Region, Chennai, and Kolkata.