By Anurag Agarwal, CEO – Global Exports & New Businesses, Polycab India
India’s data centres have evolved from isolated server rooms into the backbone of the nation’s digital economy. They now support hyperscale cloud platforms, financial systems, public digital infrastructure, artificial intelligence workloads and enterprise applications that must run continuously and flawlessly. Behind this 24/7 ecosystem sits an invisible yet indispensable layer: the cabling infrastructure that delivers power and data with precision.
While rarely seen, this physical layer dictates how reliably a data centre performs, how safely it operates and how easily it scales as demand accelerates. Hence a greater emphasis is required on conductor quality, insulation integrity, and long-term thermal stability—factors that directly influence system-level uptime
From Emergence to Expansion: India’s Data Centre Build-Out
India’s data centre industry is entering a phase of rapid, sustained growth. Key drivers include data localisation requirements, widespread cloud adoption, rising digital public services and the surge in AI-led computing. Today, the country has roughly 1.5 GW of operational colocation capacity across major hubs—Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. By 2030, this is projected to triple to nearly 4.5 GW, driven by investments of USD 25–30 billion from hyperscalers, global operators and domestic digital enterprises.
As India advances toward the goals of the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision, the reliability and resilience of this digital infrastructure is increasingly seen as a strategic national priority—not just a technology sector concern.
Engineering Discipline in High-Density, AI-Driven Environments
Modern data centres are highly synchronised systems where thousands of power and data connections must operate without fail. Structured cabling brings order to this complexity. High-grade Cat 6A copper, engineered power cables and high-bandwidth optical fibre collectively form the nervous system of the facility—ensuring consistent latency, signal integrity and future-ready scalability.
With the rise of AI clusters, high-density racks and edge facilities, demands on cabling have intensified. Higher power densities, elevated thermal stress and near-zero downtime requirements mean cable design directly influences operational risk.
Safety and performance standards such as Low Smoke Zero Halogen (LSZH) insulation, fire-retardant materials, electromagnetic shielding and compliance with IEC 60332 fire benchmarks have moved from “good to have” to essential. These specifications help prevent flame spread, reduce toxic emissions and safeguard equipment and personnel—critical in facilities expected to achieve 99.9% availability.
Building the Physical Layer of a Digital Economy
As India positions itself as a global hub for data and cloud infrastructure, the focus is shifting from sheer capacity addition to disciplined execution. Every cable in a data centre is part of a larger system that must deliver stable power, uninterrupted connectivity and mechanical resilience under constant load.
With dozens of hyperscale data centres under construction and over 80 new facilities announced nationwide, the demand for standards-aligned, high-reliability cabling will continue to rise sharply.
A Foundation for India’s Digital Future
Data centres are often measured by computing power and energy consumption, but their long-term reliability depends just as much on the quality of the cabling that ties these systems together. Poor decisions made during construction create constraints that can last decades.
As India’s digital economy deepens and more sectors depend on always-on digital services from banking to mobility to public governance investing in disciplined electrical and data infrastructure becomes critical. Building the nation’s digital backbone is not only about speed or scale, but about getting the fundamentals right, consistently and quietly.