EQT plans a $50 billion India push by 2030, with $30 billion earmarked for data centres and AI infrastructure.
MUMBAI: Global private equity firm EQT Group has announced plans to deploy approximately $50 billion into India over the next four years, targeting completion by 2030, in what ranks among the largest institutional capital commitments to the country’s private markets. Jean Eric Salata, Chairman of EQT Group and Head of EQT Private Capital Asia, disclosed the plan at a media briefing in Mumbai on September 16, 2026.
The commitment spans three broad buckets: roughly $30 billion for data centres and artificial intelligence infrastructure, around $5 billion for renewable energy, and between $15 billion and $20 billion for private equity strategies ranging from large buyouts to early-stage technology bets. It is worth noting that reporting on the exact sectoral split varies slightly across financial media, with some accounts folding renewables into a combined $35 billion AI infrastructure bucket. Importantly, the $50 billion figure represents a target deployment and capital mobilisation programme rather than a single binding fund commitment, blending fresh equity, leveraged platform debt and limited partner co-investment.
Two Decades in the Making
EQT entered India when its economy was worth under $1 trillion. It now operates within a $4 trillion economy, and has deployed roughly $26 billion cumulatively, including $7 billion between 2023 and 2026 alone across healthcare, housing finance, technology services and digital infrastructure. India currently accounts for 25% to 30% of EQT’s total private equity deployment across Asia, yet remains under 5% of its global footprint, a gap the firm is explicitly trying to close by elevating India alongside Japan as a core engine of its Asian strategy. To lead this push, Hari Gopalakrishnan, who built EQT’s India private equity operations, was elevated to Co-Head of EQT Private Capital Asia alongside Nicholas Macksey.
Building the AI Compute Factory
The largest slice of the commitment, roughly $30 billion, flows into data centres through EdgeConneX and its 50:50 joint venture with Adani Enterprises, AdaniConneX. The plan aims to scale operational capacity fivefold, from around 1 GW to 5 GW, across campuses in Chennai, Noida, Hyderabad and Pune. The Chennai facility is already live with 17 MW of IT load in its first phase, expanding to 33 MW at full buildout, while Noida runs a 50 MW hyperscale facility. According to EQT leadership, the binding constraint on enterprise AI adoption in India is not compute supply but the ability of enterprises to re-engineer workflows around it, which is why the firm pairs its data centre bets with technology services investments like Indium Software to drive utilisation of that compute capacity.
Feeding these power-hungry facilities is the logic behind EQT’s roughly $5 billion clean energy allocation, channelled through Resolven, its renewable platform previously known as Zelestra India and Solarpack. Led by CEO Parag Sharma, Resolven holds a development pipeline of 5.5 to 6.2 GW and targets 10 GW of operational and contracted capacity by 2030. The platform has recently secured wind projects in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh at tariffs between ₹3.65 and ₹3.85 per kWh, and refinanced ₹450 crore of solar assets with NIIF Infrastructure Finance to extend maturities and cut financing costs by over 100 basis points. EQT plans to deploy $1.2 billion into Resolven over two years.
Riding India’s Buyout Boom
Beyond infrastructure, EQT’s $15 billion to $20 billion private equity allocation targets a buyout market that has grown from $2 billion in 2013 to $15 billion in 2024, and is projected to reach $50 billion by 2030. Much of that growth stems from generational succession among founding families moving toward formal ownership transitions, alongside a structural capital deficit facing mid-market enterprises given India’s comparatively low credit-to-GDP ratio. EQT plans to draw on its $15.6 billion BPEA Private Equity Fund IX for large buyouts, alongside mid-market cheques of $100 million to $400 million and early-stage bets of $20 million to $50 million in Series-B and Series-C technology companies.
The Scale, in Context
Set against national numbers, EQT’s annualised deployment pace of roughly $12.5 billion a year would equal 13% to 15% of India’s total annual FDI inflows, which stood at $94.53 billion in FY26. Its $30 billion data centre allocation alone covers close to 27% of the $110 billion that JLL Research estimates India’s data centre sector will need by 2029.
Execution Will Be the Real Test
However, converting capital commitments into operating assets carries genuine execution risk. Scaling data centre capacity to 5 GW demands matching grid interconnectivity, and delays in transmission commissioning could slow both data centre and renewable buildouts alike. High-density AI racks generate substantial heat, requiring liquid cooling systems and reliable water access in metro hubs already under strain. Land assembly for hyperscale campuses beyond 100 MW, GPU and battery storage supply chains, and intensifying competition for quality buyout targets, which is pushing up valuation multiples, all pose additional friction.
Several structural details remain undisclosed too, including city-by-city allocation plans beyond existing hubs and the precise split between EQT’s own equity, partner capital from Adani Enterprises, and project-level debt. Over the next 24 months, capacity additions at AdaniConneX, commissioning progress at Resolven, and the first control buyout deals sourced from BPEA Fund IX will offer the clearest signals of whether the $50 billion target is translating from announcement into asset.
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