Airtel Plans to Establish 56 Edge Data Centres Within Two Years Amid Calls for Indian Tariff Reform

Bharti Airtel Sets Ambitious Plan to Scale Up Data Centre Business

Bharti Airtel, India's leading telecommunications company, plans to establish 56 world-class edge data centres over the next 18-24 months. This strategic move is aimed at expanding the company's presence in the data centre segment, a key area of focus for Gopal Vittal, executive vice chairman of Bharti Airtel.

During the company's earnings call for the fourth quarter of FY26, Vittal emphasized the importance of investing in data centres, strengthening the optical fibre cable network, and scaling up non-banking financial services. The company has already announced an investment of Rs 20,000 crore in non-banking financial services.

Bharti Airtel aims to increase its fibre points of presence and enhance the quality of its infrastructure. The company is focused on building 56 edge data centres, which will enable it to offer robust and reliable services to its customers. This ambitious plan is expected to take 2-3 decades to complete and will give the company a strong competitive edge in the market.

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The company currently has a modest market share of around 10-12 per cent in India, which Vittal believes is not sufficient given its size and scale. To address this, Bharti Airtel plans to invest heavily in data centres and aims to reach a gigawatt capacity in the near future. However, the company will need to acquire land and build data centres to meet the demand, which is expected to come largely from the Mumbai market.

Comparison of Capex Spend

Bharti Airtel's total capital expenditure (capex) in the March 2026 quarter increased by 11.5 per cent to Rs 16,066 crore, with Rs 13,488 crore spent in India. For the full fiscal year 2026, the capex declined by about 3 per cent to Rs 47,522 crore from Rs 48,927 crore.

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Key Focus Areas

Bharti Airtel's key focus areas include:

• Core business: Vittal emphasized that the company will prioritize its core business and allocate capital accordingly.
• Home business: The company plans to focus on increasing its penetration in the home business segment, which is expected to be a significant contributor to the company's revenue.
• Fixed broadband services: Bharti Airtel aims to strengthen its fixed broadband services segment, which has shown significant growth in recent quarters.

The company posted a 33.5 per cent decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 7,325 crore for the March 2026 quarter, mainly due to one-time provisions related to statutory and tax liabilities. However, Bharti Airtel's annual revenue crossed Rs 2 lakh crore for the first time, driven by 3.2 per cent customer growth to 66.5 crore and an increase in average revenue per user (ARPU) in India.