Data Centers in Kolkata

Kolkata – The Strategic Anchor for Eastern India Connectivity

Executive Summary

Kolkata serves as the primary digital gateway for Eastern India and neighboring South Asian territories. It is a critical hub for companies requiring high-availability colocation to serve a massive, growing consumer base across West Bengal and the surrounding regions. This market provides a mature infrastructure that balances regional dominance with stable, cost-effective operations.

Kolkata: At A Glance

Network & Connectivity Ecosystem

Kolkata functions as the central interconnection point for traffic moving between Northern India and the Bay of Bengal. As of September 2025, the ecosystem supports various regional and international requirements.

Carrier Density & Carrier Neutrality: Carrier count: over 6. The market features ~10–15 unique providers, as of September 2025, including major national telcos and international transit providers. Most facilities operate with high neutrality, allowing for competitive pricing and diverse pathing.

Direct Cloud On-Ramps: Over 1, enabling access to 1 cloud regions. Local infrastructure provides direct, low-latency entry points to AWS, as of September 2025. This removes the need to backhaul traffic to distant hubs in Mumbai for core compute tasks.

Internet Exchange Points (IXPs): The National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) maintains a significant presence, facilitating efficient local peering and keeping domestic traffic within the regional network.

Bare Metal: High-performance compute options are available through global providers such as Hivelocity and Latitude.sh, as of September 2025. These services allow for rapid scaling without the capital expenditure of traditional colocation.

Power Analysis

Kolkata provides a stable power environment for high-density deployments, though the generation mix remains traditional.

Average Cost Of Power: Industrial electricity is approximately $0.07/kWh, as of September 2025. These rates are globally competitive, providing a cost-effective foundation for large-scale data processing and storage.

Power Grid Reliability: The local grid is supported by multi-substation redundancy in major IT corridors like Salt Lake and New Town. Transmission infrastructure is well-engineered to manage high demand from the industrial and commercial base.

Market Access, Business & Tax Climate

The business environment in Kolkata is centered on its role as the financial capital of East India.

Proximity To Key Business Districts: Data centers are located near Bidhannagar (Salt Lake Sector V) and New Town. These districts house the majority of the region’s IT and financial services firms, ensuring minimal latency for corporate headquarters and operational centers.

Regional Market Reach: A presence in Kolkata effectively serves a combined population of over 300 million people across East India and provides a gateway for digital trade with Bangladesh and Bhutan.

Tax Advantage For Data Centers: No specific tax breaks currently exist for data centers in this market. Businesses operate under standard national fiscal policies without local utility or property tax offsets.

Natural Disaster Risk

Kolkata has an overall risk profile of High (5.5/10), as of September 2025. Facilities here are built to mitigate environmental threats specific to a deltaic geography.

• River Flood (9.2/10): The primary risk due to the Hooghly River and seasonal monsoon cycles, as of September 2025.
• Earthquake (8.3/10): The region sits in a seismically active zone requiring strict building standards, as of September 2025.
• Tsunami (7.8/10): This is a regional risk; for inland Kolkata facilities, this is an indirect threat related to broader coastal surges, as of September 2025.
• Coastal Flood (7.8/10): Primarily impacts southern districts; urban facilities use elevated platforms to manage this risk, as of September 2025.
• Tropical Cyclone (7.7/10): Frequent seasonal storms require reliable backup power and wind-resistant structural design, as of September 2025.