APAC real estate firm ESR is entering the Indian data center market.

The company this week announced plans for a multi-story data center in the Rabale area of Mumbai, in the state of Maharashtra.

Being built on a 3.25-acre site, ESR Rabale MU1 Data Centre (MU1) will support a facility load of up to 60MW. The project's investment will total $100 million.

ESR said MU1 has been pre-leased to an unnamed “major information and communications technology company.”

“India is one of the most compelling data center growth markets globally, driven by rapid digital adoption, data localisation requirements, and the rise of cloud and AI workloads,” said Stuart Gibson, co-founder and co-CEO, ESR. “As ESR’s first data center in India, MU1 marks a key step in advancing our pan-APAC digital infrastructure strategy, leveraging our vertically integrated development capabilities and experience across high-demand markets.”

ESR has traditionally been focused on logistics real estate, and claims to be the largest logistics real estate company in APAC. The company has made a number of investments in the data center space since 2021. The new development takes ESR’s pan-APAC data center pipeline to more than 3GW, the company said.

Abhijit Malkani, CEO, India, ESR, added: “MU1 is a landmark project for us, combining scale, connectivity, and power security in one of Mumbai’s most established data center clusters. As digital demand continues to surge, we are well‑placed to build high‑quality data center hubs across the country.”

Formed in 2016 following a merger between e-shang and Redwood Group, ESR has developments planned in Hong Kong, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan, and Australia. ESR subsidiary ARA Asset Management also has a data center footprint through its Logos Group unit, which partnered with Pure Data Centres for a 20MW facility in Indonesia.

Previously publicly listed, ESR was taken private last year by a consortium including Starwood Capital Group, SSW Partners, Sixth Street, Warburg Pincus, Qatar Investment Authority, and ESR’s founders. OMERS and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation also have a stake in the company.