Mumbai Becomes the Second Cheapest City for Data Center Construction

India has emerged as one of the most attractive markets in the world for data center investment. According to the latest Data Center Construction Cost Index by Turner & Townsend, Mumbai ranked as the second least expensive region globally for data center construction in 2025.

The report highlighted that the construction cost of a data center in Mumbai stands at just USD 6.64 per watt, placing it 51st out of 52 global markets surveyed. The ranking is based on the cost per watt of building a data center — with rank 1 representing the highest cost and rank 52 the lowest.

This 51st position means Mumbai is the second most cost-effective city in the world for building data centers. The low cost gives India a strategic advantage for attracting data infrastructure investment compared to other major hubs such as Tokyo, Singapore, and Zurich.

Mumbai also benefits from low electricity tariffs of just USD 0.0671 per kilowatt-hour, which is less than half of Shanghai’s rates. This makes India’s financial capital an increasingly appealing destination for global data center developers.

Although India produces nearly 20% of the world’s data, it currently holds only about 3% of the global data center capacity. This gap highlights both the country’s reliance on foreign hosting and its enormous potential for domestic expansion.

Sumit Mukherjee, Managing Director of Real Estate for Asia at Turner & Townsend, stated, “India is at a critical global inflection point, with markets like Mumbai offering highly competitive construction costs. An estimated investment of USD 156 billion is required for regional data infrastructure. This low-cost base provides India with a significant advantage for data center investment.”