CPP Investments commits up to ₹70 billion to India’s CtrlS

CPP Investments (Canada Pension Plan Investment Board) has announced a partnership with Indian data center operator CtrlS, committing up to ₹70 billion (about $741 million) to the company. The transaction is structured into two main components:

• CPP Investments will invest ₹40 billion (around $423 million) to acquire an 8.2% stake in CtrlS.
• CPP Investments will commit up to ₹30 billion (about $317 million) to a joint venture to develop hyperscale data center campuses (large-scale facilities) across India. CPP Investments will own 48% of this joint venture, while CtrlS will hold the remaining 52%.

Founded in 2007, CtrlS operates more than 15 data centers and had previously announced plans in 2023 to invest $2 billion over six years to expand its footprint. The new capital will support its expansion amid rising demand for digital infrastructure. “As one of the world’s fastest-growing digital markets, India represents an important pillar of our global data center strategy,” said Max Biagosch, CPP Investments’ global head of real assets. Sridhar Pinnapureddy, CtrlS founder and chief executive, noted that the partnership will help the company expand capacity and build infrastructure tailored for AI workloads. CPP Investments has been investing in India since 2009, holding about $20 billion in net assets in the country as of March 31, and has invested in the data center sector globally since 2017.

The deal follows other massive capital commitments targeting India’s digital infrastructure. Earlier this month, Blackstone-backed AirTrunk announced it would invest $30 billion to build five gigawatts of data center capacity in India by 2030. Additionally, Meta partnered with Reliance Industries last week to develop a 168-megawatt AI-enabled data center in the western state of Gujarat. Other global technology firms, including Amazon, Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Uber, have also announced investments in India in recent months.

At the same time, the rapid buildout of data centers is expected to increase pressure on local electricity and water resources. India’s expanding role as an infrastructure hub has also not yet been matched by its development of frontier AI models. While local startups like Sarvam are building indigenous models, much of the underlying AI technology used by Indian companies continues to be supplied by U.S. firms.

Why it matters

CPP Investments’ commitment to CtrlS underscores the growing role of India as a destination for global capital aimed at building out cloud and AI infrastructure.