Alternative asset management firm Brookfield Infrastructure (TSX: BIP.UN; NYSE: BIP) has purchased a 30-acre piece of land in Navi Mumbai, India, to build an institutional data centre.

The roughly 1.3 million square foot parcel in Airoli was sold by K Raheja Corp for a cash consideration of around Rs 550 crore (US$76.45 million), according to people familiar with the matter speaking to the Economic Times.

The land was originally bought by K Raheja Corp in 2015 from US-based speciality chemicals company Cabot Corporation for Rs 200 crore ($27.8 million), highlighting the high demand for development land in the tech-driven Navi Mumbai region.

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In July, Brookfield and data centre operator Digital Realty (NYSE: DLR) entered into an agreement to establish a 50/50 joint venture named BAM Digital Realty focused on the development, ownership and operation of institutional data centres in India.

However, it is not clear if the Airoli land purchase is related to the BAM Digital Realty JV.

The two businesses said at the time of launch that they intend to acquire land parcels in multiple Indian metros for the development of data centre campuses to support the needs of global hyperscale service providers as well as international and local enterprises.

Digital Realty and Brookfield said they will design, build and operate sustainable facilities, drawing upon the firms’ broader commitments to sustainable operations, including carbon reduction initiatives.

Brookfield Infrastructure’s global data infrastructure portfolio currently includes $23 billion in assets across data transmission, distribution, and storage, including a portfolio of 139,000 operational telecom wireless towers in India, which it intends to expand to 175,000 over the near term.

The firm has over a decade of experience investing in India, with approximately $20 billion of assets under management including infrastructure, renewable power, real estate, and private equity.

The India data centre market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8% over 2021 to 2026, with the first seven months of this year serving as an example of what is to come.

India has so far in 2021 attracted more than $4.5 billion in data centre asset class commitments, in part driven by a substantial increase in data production and consumption sparked by the Covid-19 pandemic, said real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield.