Toronto: The investment arm of a Canadian pension fund has announced it is placing over CA$ 1 billion (US$ 708 million) into a leading Indian data centre operator.
The announcement in this regard came on Wednesday from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP) Investments, which said it was entering into a strategic partnership with CtrlS Datacenters Ltd, a leading data centre operator. It said it was committing up to ₹70 billion (CA$ 1 billion) “to scale its digital infrastructure footprint in one of the world’s fastest-growing data economies.”
The investment will have two facets. First, CPP Investments will put ₹40 billion (approximately CA$ 588 million) towards acquiring an 8.2% stake in CtrlS, which operates a data centre platform with significant contracted capacity, long-term customer relationships and a growing development pipeline.
Secondly, CPP Investments has committed up to ₹30 billion (about CA$ 441 million) in forming a joint venture with CtrlS “to develop hyperscale data centre campuses across India.” CPP Investments will hold 48% equity ownership, with CtrlS owning the majority 52%.
“The partnership aims to speed up the development of next-generation data centre infrastructure to meet rising demand from hyperscalers, cloud services, AI applications, and India’s rapidly expanding digital economy,” a release from CPP Investments said.
“As one of the world’s fastest growing digital markets, India represents an important pillar of our global data centre strategy,” Max Biagosch, Senior Managing Director and Global Head of Real Assets at CPP Investments, said.
“This investment builds on more than a decade of investing in India and the strength of our local platform. With an established presence on the ground, we continue to focus on investing alongside high-quality partners such as CtrlS and executing with discipline over the long term,” he added. CPP Investments made its first India play in 2009 and opened its Mumbai office in 2015. With over ₹1,850 billion (CA$ 27 billion) of net assets as of March 31, 2026, it is among the largest international institutional investors in India.
“Together, we are not merely expanding capacity but also establishing the benchmark for AI-ready infrastructure in one of the world’s most significant digital markets,” CtrlS founder and CEO Sridhar Pinnapureddy said.
The Toronto-headquartered CPP Investments is an investment management organisation that manages the Canada Pension Plan Fund. The fund totalled CA$ 793.3 billion on March 31.
In March this year, after his bilateral meeting with visiting Canadian counterpart Mark Carney, Prime Minister Narendra Modi noted Canada’s pension funds have invested US$ 100 billion in India, reflecting their “deep belief” in the country’s growth. Carney pointed out these funds have US$ 2 trillion in capital and see potential for growth, especially in infrastructure.