AirTrunk—the data centre operator founded by Australian billionaire Robin Khuda—is buying Lumina CloudInfra to expand in India, as the world’s most populous country sees rapid growth in AI demand.
Lumina was founded by U.S. private equity giant Blackstone, which also holds a significant stake in AirTrunk. It has 600 megawatts of planned data centre capacity and up to $5 billion in development potential, AirTrunk said in a statement on Monday. The value of the deal was not disclosed.
“India is one of the largest and fastest growing markets for hyperscale and AI infrastructure worldwide, and expanding in this market is a significant milestone for AirTrunk’s broader Asia-Pacific strategy,” Robin Khuda, founder & CEO of AirTrunk said in the statement.
With the addition of Lumina, AirTrunk will have more than 3 gigawatts of operating and planned capacity across 20 sites in six countries, including Australia, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and India.
Data centre investments are surging in India, fuelled by rapid growth in AI and cloud computing. The country’s capacity is expected to rise more than fivefold to 10 gigawatts by 2030 from about 1.5 gigawatts last year, according to consulting firm Deloitte.
India’s billionaires are also tapping into this AI-driven boom. Reliance Industries—controlled by Mukesh Ambani—and Adani Enterprises, led by Gautam Adani, are each planning to invest about $100 billion in data centres and other digital infrastructure facilities across the country in the coming years.
With an estimated net worth of $2.1 billion according to Forbes’ real-time data, Bangladesh-born Khuda is among the wealthiest in Australia. He founded AirTrunk in 2015 and grew the company to have a strong presence across Asia Pacific. In 2024, a consortium led by Blackstone and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired AirTrunk in a $16 billion deal. Khuda retained a small but valuable stake.
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