Inside the new business that could soon rewrite rules of the data game NEW DELHI: Whether data is the next oil is debatable, but what can’t be up for debate is the surge in data production and consumption in India. And with the government’s mandate on data localization and data-driven business ecosystem driven by 5G, ventures in the data centre space are the next big thing for investors.Conglomerates such as the Hiranandani group and the Adanis are placing big bets in data outsourcing facilities by building hyperscale data parks in metro cities. Other local cloud providers such as Sify, CtrlS and ESDS already have colocation services in tier 1, tier-2 and tier-3 cities.Global players are foraying in the segment through joint ventures or mergers and acquisitions like Japanese company NTT acquired NetMagic in 2016. Europe-based Colt and Singapore-based Bridge have also announced their major expansion plans in India. Telecom operators such as Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio have also stated plans to build as many as 10-15 data centres across the country.“Growing at a very healthy 25% CAGR, driven by the explosive growth of data in India, data centres are all set to script a winning story in India and FDI inflows are expected to be in the range of $1 billion or more in the next 2-3 years,” said Lux Rao, Director – Solutions Consulting, NTT India.On January 14, the government met information technology and ecommerce companies and sought suggestions to attract investment in data storage infrastructure as a precursor to a national policy on ecommerce.