Regulatory Lacunae In Indian Data Centre Governance

Sonakshi Gopi, School of Law, Christ (Deemed to be University)

Prashanth Sabeshan, Dentons Link Legal

1. Introduction

To call the twenty-first century an era of hyper-digitalisation would be an understatement. Technology has permeated almost every aspect of daily life, from adjusting ambient temperature to hosting boardroom meetings. The rapid pace of technological revolution and integration is in no danger of losing momentum - the drive for such innovation has become constant and relentless. To support this surge in use and rise in demand for technology, there is a need for robust data centres.

Data centres house the computational infrastructure of a company. While most offices have dedicated in-house spaces for their IT equipment, with data localisation norms and the growing bandwidth to cater to customers across national borders, independent data centres have become an infrastructural necessity. Consequently, this requires an equally potent regulatory framework for their establishment and operation. With 151 data centres, Meta planning to set up a data centre exclusively to meet growing demands for Instagram reels and AdaniConneX securing a $ 1.44 billion loan to build data centres, it’s safe to say that the sector is experiencing an unabated boom in India.

This paper aims to highlight some of the gaps in data centre regulation in India and potential considerations for resolving them. The gaps identified are from policy, IT, foreign investment, telecom, energy and real estate standpoints.

2. Regulatory and policy standpoints

While the MEITY released a Draft Data Centre Policy in 2020, India does not have a comprehensive national framework to synchronise and simultaneously regulate the establishment of data centres and the various sectors that collectively constitute a data centre’s construction and operation.