With a ₹250 crore stake in CtrlS, Zerodha’s Nikhil Kamath and Sreeram Reddy Vanga are putting their money where India’s AI boom is headed.
Why India’s AI Boom Needs Bigger Data Centres
The country’s foray into artificial intelligence requires more than just the odd powerful chip or an ambitious model; it calls for the data centres, cooling and power to make them work. That kind of infrastructure is beginning to draw in private capital in earnest.
In an investment announced on 19 August 2026, Kamath has put in ₹200 crore and Vanga ₹50 crore with CtrlS Datacenters. The move is intended to back the company’s expansion at a time when hyperscalers, AI firms and enterprises are ramping up their demands.
India’s Data Centre Capacity Faces a Growing Demand
Whether it is for digital public infrastructure, cloud computing or AI, much of what comes in India’s next technology cycle will be underpinned by data centres. Kamath sees the nation at an inflection point and cautions that if the infrastructure does not keep up with demand, it will become a bottleneck. And there is plenty of demand to go around, from government projects and enterprise cloud to the likes of AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.
CtrlS Builds Out Infrastructure for the AI Era
Under the leadership of Sridhar Pinnapureddy, CtrlS has 19 data centres in nine Indian markets and over 370 MW of live capacity. But the pipeline is far more extensive, with in excess of 4 GW being developed, some of it tailored for AI. The new equity will allow the firm to put down its roots and put in place the advanced power and cooling systems that come with it.
₹5,500 Crore Debt Deal Adds to CtrlS’s Expansion
This is not the only financial backing in play. CtrlS recently closed a ₹5,500 crore debt deal with State Bank of India (₹4,000 crore) and Central Bank of India (₹1,500 crore) for a 3.5 GW campus in Hyderabad built for high-density AI and machine learning. On top of that, a strategic partnership with CPPIB has brought a commitment of as much as C$1 billion.
AI Firms Are Racing for Data Centre Capacity
There is a shift afoot. As AI becomes part of the business day-to-day, companies are looking for space to house large GPU clusters and the cooling they need. Neoclouds like CoreWeave and Lambda Labs, with NVIDIA behind them, are part of this race. CtrlS is in talks with a number of such global players for their inference workloads.
Why Kamath and Vanga Are Betting on India’s AI Infrastructure
For Kamath, the CtrlS bet is a statement of faith in the long-term necessity of digital infrastructure in India. For Vanga it is another addition to his portfolio of tech and infrastructure.
As for CtrlS, the timing is right. India’s AI ambitions are on the rise and so too is the hardware needed to fuel them. One has to wonder if the country can put the physical foundation in place fast enough.
