Made in India, Built for the World: Vipin Jain on CtrlS and the Road to Digital Sovereignty

In an era where data is the new oil, CtrlS is playing a pivotal role in empowering Indian enterprises and global hyperscale customers to meet the growing demands of data localisation and privacy compliance. With the Indian government strengthening its data protection laws and emphasizing the need to store sensitive data within national borders, CtrlS is proactively building one of the largest and most secure data center networks across the country.

By investing in state-of-the-art, energy-efficient, and hyperscale-ready data centers, CtrlS ensures that businesses operating in critical sectors, such as BFSI, healthcare, e-commerce, and digital services, can seamlessly host their data within India. Thus, adhering to local regulations while maintaining global performance standards. These infrastructure builds are strategically located in key economic zones, enabling low-latency access, business continuity, and robust disaster recovery capabilities.

Through this, CtrlS is not just offering physical hosting; it is creating the digital backbone for India’s data sovereignty, aligning technology infrastructure with national interest and customer trust. With a focus on resilience, compliance, and scalability, CtrlS is committed to making India self-reliant in managing and securing its digital future.

As a colocation data center company, we have developed our capability to counter AI-powered cyber threats by adopting a multi-layered defense architecture that integrates threat intelligence, behavioral analytics, and real-time response mechanisms. Leveraging AI for anomaly detection, predictive threat modeling, and automated incident response will enable these facilities to counter sophisticated attacks proactively. We have ensured that our network infrastructure layer is away from cyber vulnerabilities.

Incorporating Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA), hardware root-of-trust, encrypted traffic inspection, and continuous security posture assessments across network, hardware, and application layers significantly reduces the attack surface. Through robust and regular penetration testing, patch management, and segmentation of critical systems, we have enhanced the resilience of our infrastructure against evolving AI-enabled threats.

On the infrastructure front, CtrlS is a leader in the adoption of AI and is actively developing AI-ready data centers on a 40-acre campus in Chandanvelly Industrial Park near Hyderabad, engineered for over 600 MW of IT capacity. CtrlS earlier this year also signed an MoU with the Telangana Government to establish a cutting-edge AI Datacenter Cluster in the state. The project will have an investment of Rs 10,000 crores and a 400 MW capacity.

As part of its broad growth plan, CtrlS has earmarked $2 billion up to 2029 to expand AI-ready capacity across key markets. The company is ensuring that all its facilities are AI-capable and ready to meet future AI-driven demand.

India remains our anchor market, both in terms of scale and innovation. Our global ambitions are grounded in the belief that India’s data center blueprint, particularly in terms of sustainability, scalability, and cost optimization, is replicable. CtrlS is exploring strategic expansions into Southeast Asia and the Middle East, where there is a growing demand for sovereign, green, and AI-ready infrastructure, akin to CtrlS’ Indian deployments. We have forayed into Thailand as part of this strategy.

Our model emphasizes “Made in India, Built for the World.” We are leveraging indigenous design IP, in-house engineering, and supply chain resilience to replicate modular, energy-efficient hyperscale parks abroad. These include modular Rated‑4 architectures, developed over 15 operational sites in India, and our captive solarfarm, GreenVolt, that's powering our push toward carbon neutrality by 2040.

India offers three compelling advantages: unmatched domestic demand, favourable policy tailwinds, and significant cost advantages in land, power, and skilled workforce. Additionally, India’s geography, situated at the crossroads of the APAC and the Middle East, facilitates submarine cable landings, making it a natural interconnection hub for low-latency and high-capacity traffic flows. A proactive government policy ecosystem is another major factor that is driving growth in India. Compared to hubs like Singapore or Dubai, CtrlS can deliver lower total cost of ownership while ensuring global reliability benchmarks.

We are leveraging this by positioning India not just as a hosting market, but as a global AI and edge computing hub. Our investments in cities such as Hyderabad, Chennai, and Bhopal are designed to meet both domestic and international AI workload demands. CtrlS’ green data center leadership, including a 100 MW captive solar farm and a Net Zero 2040 roadmap, further enhances India’s competitiveness on the ESG front.

CtrlS is among the first operators to deploy edge data centers in non-metro cities like Patna, Lucknow, and Bhubaneswar, with further plans for GIFT City, Guwahati, Kochi, and Bhopal. These facilities reduce latency, enable local cloud access, and support applications in e-governance, education, health, logistics, and agriculture, which is critical for India’s digital inclusion goals. Edge data centers, such as our Patna facility, are already nearing full utilization, underscoring the rapid local adoption of enterprise-grade uptime in Tier‑2 markets.

Backed by data localization mandates, the IndiaAI Mission, and state incentives, these edge sites benefit from a supportive regulatory framework. We aim to deploy over 15-20 edge facilities across India, enabling mission-critical digital services for underserved regions. Our modular edge design allows seamless integration with core hyperscale campuses, ensuring performance parity and security compliance even in remote geographies. Each micro-site reflects our Rated-4 design ethos, featuring N+N power redundancy, dual-feed grids, onsite diesel generators, and GIS substations, all delivering metro-grade reliability. For reliable performance, CtrlS integrates SD-WAN overlays and dual-ring fiber topologies, ensuring sub-millisecond failover and regional interconnectivity. This approach supports India’s vision of self-reliant digital infrastructure and empowers rural and regional economies with world-class computing capabilities.

CtrlS’ sustainability-first philosophy is embedded in every layer of infrastructure. Our green energy roadmap includes a 100 MW solar park in Nagpur, as well as ongoing solar investments in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka, with a target of achieving 1,000 MW of renewable capacity by 2030. We also deploy AI-based cooling systems (immersion/liquid) and water recycling systems, as well as modular, low Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) designs tailored to India’s tropical climates.

On the talent front, we are investing in localized training, creating jobs in Tier 2 and 3 cities, and building vendor ecosystems with over 300 partners. CtrlS has been recognized as a “Great Place to Work” for seven consecutive years, reflecting our emphasis on skill development and workforce growth.

Together, these initiatives contribute to a resilient, self-reliant, and environmentally conscious digital infrastructure that embodies the spirit of Atmanirbhar Bharat, a globally competitive yet locally rooted model.