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Economic Times
08-07-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
AI infra firm RackBank gets land in Indore, Raipur for data centres
AI infrastructure startup RackBank is looking to expand data centres in tier-2 cities like Indore and Raipur to reduce its operational cost by 2–3x as compared to data centre hotspots like Mumbai, Chennai and Noida. The firm, which recently launched an AI cloud business unit called NeevCloud, has acquired six acres of land in Indore for an 18 megawatt facility and 13 acres in Raipur for a 100 megawatt facility, Narendra Sen, founder and CEO of RackBank and NeevCloud, told ET. These investments are supported by state governments of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh respectively in form of power subsidies and other benefits. To maintain competitive pricing for on-demand GPUs (graphics processing units), neocloud firms need to cut fixed costs and operational costs, especially because GPUs guzzle immense power and water. For instance, land costs in Raipur are Rs 30 lakh per acre, less than a tenth of Mumbai's rates, and operational costs are equally compelling, Sen explained.'In tier-1 cities, it costs Rs 50 crore per megawatt to build. We do it for Rs 25 crore in tier-2. State governments like Madhya Pradesh are also supporting data centre companies with single window clearances and dedicated power supply. Our delivery timeline is nine months, as compared to metro cities where it can be 24 months,' he added that RackBank's in-house immersion cooling system Varuna allows it to cut capital costs by up to company is aiming to raise Rs 700 crore debt to fund this expansion. This comes after it raised a $16.5 million (nearly Rs 138 crore) equity seed round in March 2025 from D-Street investors like Ashish Kacholia and Madhulika Agarwal.'We want to become the CoreWeave of Asia Pacific,' he said, referencing the US-based AI cloud startup that recently went public after a meteoric in 2023, NeevCloud currently operates a cluster of over 700 GPUs, including Nvidia H100, H200, MI300 and plans to add the latest Blackwell GPUs in Raipur soon. NeevCloud's model focuses on enterprise AI workloads, medical diagnostics and government partnerships. 'Hyperscalers like AWS and Azure dominate the general cloud, but they don't have enough GPU capacity in India. Startups are hungry for training and inference compute, and they're willing to switch providers,' said Sen. 'We're already seeing strong traction from AI startups and healthcare firms.' On the global front, NeevCloud is also setting up presence in Europe (Finland, Norway) and the US, partnering with local data centre operators to ensure compliance and reach.'Customers expect availability. If your site shows zero GPUs, they bounce,' said Sen. 'So we're launching regions in key markets to stay competitive.'
New Indian Express
21-06-2025
- Climate
- New Indian Express
With rains playing truant, farmers in Telangana's Peddapapayapalli perform ‘Kappatalli'
KARIMNAGAR: With June two-thirds through and no sign of monsoon showers, anxious farmers in Peddapapayapalli in Huzurabad Mandal have turned to an age-old tradition — the Kappatalli (frog) ritual — to invoke the rain God to bless their village. On Friday, villagers, including farmers and women, tied two frogs to a wooden pole adorned with cloth and carried them in a solemn procession through the settlement. Accompanied by rhythmic drum beats, devotees sprinkled water on the amphibians while singing devotional hymns, seeking the mercy of Varuna, the Hindu rain God. The ritual, passed down through generations, is performed during severe dry spells. The decorated frogs symbolise a plea for timely rains, bountiful harvests, and prosperity for the farming community. Rajaiah, a village elder, explained, 'We revive this tradition whenever drought looms. We'll keep praying until the skies open up.' With agricultural work stalled due to the delayed monsoon, farmers cling to hope that this ancient appeal will bring much-needed relief. As the sun beats down on parched fields, Pedda Papayapalli's faith in tradition remains unshaken—a testament to the enduring bond between nature and agrarian life.
Time of India
04-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
RackBank to build 80MW AI data centre for ₹1,000 crore in Raipur
Data centre provider RackBank inaugurated its new AI data centre in Raipur to be built with an initial investment of ₹1,000 crore. The facility, spanning 13.5 acres, can house 1 lakh graphics processing units (GPUs). An additional 2.70 hectares have been earmarked at the Chhattisgarh SEZ to deliver high-quality, cost-effective services. The initial investment in the data centre can be scaled up to ₹3,000 crore over five years, the company said in a statement. The new AI data centre park is expected to create a variety of job opportunities, with plans to employ 200 people in five years and scale up to 500 people. The new AI data centre will be constructed in four phases with an initial capacity of 80 MW in the first phase, which will be scalable to 160 MW in Phase 4. The park will use RackBank's in-house developed and patented direct-to-chip liquid cooling technology and Varuna liquid immersion cooling system. This technology optimises power usage and enhances energy efficiency, reducing cooling costs by up to 70%, the company said. The location of the data centre offers advantages including low latency across India, RackBank said. It will have flexible rack density options ranging from 80 kW to 200 kW per rack. The facility will follow Nvidia's future roadmap for chips and GPUs, and its designs will follow the chipmaker's standards. It will operate on clean energy and low water usage. "The new facility will provide greater cost efficiencies to businesses by scaling and leveraging India's GPU compute capacity to meet India's AI needs. The campus will serve as a hub for collaboration between academia, industry, and government, fostering an ecosystem of innovation and technological advancement by helping businesses harness the true power of AI. It will empower businesses, researchers, developers, Global R&D centres and innovators to harness the full potential of AI while ensuring the highest standards of security, sustainability, and efficiency," said Narendra Sen, founder and CEO of RackBank.
Economic Times
04-05-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
RackBank to build 80MW AI data centre for Rs 1,000 crore in Raipur
Data centre provider RackBank inaugurated its new AI data centre in Raipur to be built with an initial investment of Rs 1,000 facility, spanning 13.5 acres, can house 1 lakh graphics processing units (GPU). An additional 2.70 hectares have been earmarked at the Chhattisgarh SEZ to deliver high-quality, cost-effective services. The initial investment in the data centre can be scaled up to Rs 3,000 crore over five years, the company said in a statement. The new AI data centre park is expected to create a variety of job opportunities, with plans to employ 200 people in five years and scale up to 500 people. The new AI data centre will be constructed in four phases with an initial capacity of 80 MW in the first phase, which will be scalable to 160 MW in Phase 4. The park will use RackBank's in-house developed and patented direct-to-chip liquid cooling technology and Varuna liquid immersion cooling system. This technology optimises power usage and enhances energy efficiency, reducing cooling costs by up to 70%, the company said. The location of the data centre offers advantages including low latency across India, RackBank said. It will have flexible rack density options ranging from 80 kW to 200 kW per rack. The facility will follow Nvidia's future roadmap for chips and GPUs, and its designs will follow the chipmaker's standards. It will operate on clean energy and low water usage. "The new facility will provide greater cost efficiencies to businesses by scaling and leveraging India's GPU compute capacity to meet India's AI needs. The campus will serve as a hub for collaboration between academia, industry, and government, fostering an ecosystem of innovation and technological advancement by helping businesses harness the true power of AI. It will empower businesses, researchers, developers, Global R&D centres and innovators to harness the full potential of AI while ensuring the highest standards of security, sustainability, and efficiency," said Narendra Sen, founder and CEO of RackBank.
Time of India
04-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
RackBank opens 80MW AI data centre in Raipur
Data centre provider RackBank inaugurated its new AI data centre in Raipur to be built with an initial investment of Rs 1,000 crore. #Pahalgam Terrorist Attack India much better equipped to target cross-border terror since Balakot India conducts maiden flight-trials of stratospheric airship platform Pakistan shuts ports for Indian ships after New Delhi bans imports from Islamabad The facility, spanning 13.5 acres, can house 1 lakh graphics processing units (GPU). An additional 2.70 hectares have been earmarked at the Chhattisgarh SEZ to deliver high-quality, cost-effective services. The initial investment in the data centre can be scaled up to Rs 3,000 crore over five years, the company said in a statement. The new AI data centre park is expected to create a variety of job opportunities, with plans to employ 200 people in five years and scale up to 500 people. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Dog licks arent kisses. Heres what your dog really means when it licks you. Novelodge Undo The new AI data centre will be constructed in four phases with an initial capacity of 80 MW in the first phase, which will be scalable to 160 MW in Phase 4. The park will use RackBank's in-house developed and patented direct-to-chip liquid cooling technology and Varuna liquid immersion cooling system. This technology optimises power usage and enhances energy efficiency, reducing cooling costs by up to 70%, the company said. The location of the data centre offers advantages including low latency across India, RackBank said. It will have flexible rack density options ranging from 80 kW to 200 kW per rack. The facility will follow Nvidia's future roadmap for chips and GPUs, and its designs will follow the chipmaker's standards. It will operate on clean energy and low water usage. Live Events "The new facility will provide greater cost efficiencies to businesses by scaling and leveraging India's GPU compute capacity to meet India's AI needs. The campus will serve as a hub for collaboration between academia, industry, and government, fostering an ecosystem of innovation and technological advancement by helping businesses harness the true power of AI. It will empower businesses, researchers, developers, Global R&D centres and innovators to harness the full potential of AI while ensuring the highest standards of security, sustainability, and efficiency," said Narendra Sen, founder and CEO of RackBank. Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories
