"Amazon India to Acquire Land from Lodha for New Generative AI Data Center"

Amazon India is in the final stages of acquiring 40-45 acres of land from Macrotech Developers (Lodha) in Palava, near Mumbai, for approximately ₹500-600 crore, sources revealed. The site is earmarked for a new Amazon Web Services (AWS) data centre focused on generative AI applications.

According to individuals familiar with the negotiations, the deal is expected to be finalized in the coming months. Once the land is acquired, Macrotech Developers will construct the facility for Amazon. However, neither Amazon India nor Macrotech Developers responded to requests for comment on the deal.

The data centre will be crucial for supporting AWS’s generative AI capabilities, which require more advanced infrastructure in terms of power, space, and cooling compared to traditional cloud workloads. Generative AI leverages machine learning to create novel solutions and applications, enhancing business processes in ways not previously possible.

Amazon Web Services, the global leader in cloud infrastructure with a 31% market share (ahead of Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud), views India as a key growth market. AWS has already invested $3.7 billion in the country between 2016 and 2022, primarily within the AWS Asia Pacific (Mumbai) region.

In May 2023, AWS signed a 15-year lease for 4.5 lakh square feet of land from K Raheja Corp in Navi Mumbai for data centre purposes, following a 2022 lease of 5.5 acres from Larsen & Toubro in Powai. Amazon had also previously announced plans to invest $12.7 billion in India’s data centre infrastructure by 2030.

AWS currently operates two regions in India—Mumbai, launched in 2016, and Hyderabad, launched in 2022-offering enhanced resilience, security, and low-latency services to Indian customers.

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