ESDS Software Solutions Ltd is preparing to launch an initial public offering (IPO) in the coming weeks, in what would make it India’s first listed data centre owner and operator, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The Nashik-based company is likely to have increased the size of its fresh issue to ₹720 crore from an initial target of ₹600 crore, said the first of the two people cited earlier, both speaking on condition of anonymity.
“The decision to expand the fresh issue followed discussions with institutional investors during the pre-marketing phase, where the company received indications of demand for assets,” this person explained.
According to ESDS’ preliminary IPO papers filed with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in March 2025, the company was mulling a pre-listing fundraise of ₹120 crore, which would have reduced the fresh issue size proportionately. It is still not clear whether the company has raised the pre-IPO money.
The markets regulator issued its observations and granted clearance for the IPO in December 2025. However, the company deferred the share sale amid volatile markets, and is now targeting an IPO launch within four to six weeks, Mint has learnt.
The potential public listing of ESDS comes weeks after Sify Infinit Spaces Ltd decided to put its planned ₹3,700-crore data centre IPO on hold amid weak market conditions.
The withdrawal of Sify’s offering reduced the options for investors looking for equity investments in the Indian data centre industry, which includes major unlisted players like IPO-bound and CtrlS, as well as CYFuture, WebWerks and Nxtra by Airtel.
“The cancellation of a competing offering altered the supply dynamics in the data centre space,” said the second person. “ESDS was able to scale up its IPO size because institutional desks lacked alternative entry points into this space.”
Queries emailed to ESDS on 26 June remained unanswered till press time.
Growth driver
Mint had reported on 29 January how surging demand for is sharply raising capital needs, pushing operators to seek larger pools of capital for growth. Rapid adoption of data-heavy platforms and policy initiatives such as the government’s Digital India Mission are also prompting several major players to tap public markets.
“The business model for is notoriously capital-intensive. IPOs will increasingly serve as effective methods for these businesses to quickly raise the necessary capital to expand domestic footprints,” Narendra Solanki, head of fundamental research-investment services at Anand Rathi Share and Stock Brokers, had told Mint.
To be sure, ESDS’s draft IPO document classifies E2E Networks Ltd as a listed peer for comparison, the latter is an ITeS player that does not generally build or own the physical data centre buildings it operates out of. By contrast, ESDS owns and operates its own network of Tier III-certified sovereign data centres across cities like Nashik, Navi Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Mohali. The firm was incorporated in 2005 in Nashik and is promoted by chief executive officer Piyush Somani. It provides IT infrastructure-related services, including cloud computing infrastructure, co-location data centre infrastructure, software-as-a-service (SaaS) and managed services.
A Tier III data centre is the second-highest certification in the industry standard system, which classifies performance into four tiers. A Tier III certification means that each capacity component and distribution path in a site can be removed on a planned basis for maintenance or replacement without impacting operations.
The company aims to use the funds raised from the fresh issue to purchase and install cloud computing and other equipment and infrastructure for its data centres. A part of the proceeds will also be allocated toward meeting working capital requirements and general corporate purposes.
In fiscal 2024-2025 (FY25), ESDS’ revenue grew around 26% to ₹361 crore, while its operating margin improved to around 43% from nearly 35% in FY24.
Revenue growth was driven primarily by onboarding new clients and higher spending from existing ones, supported by bundled service offerings. The improvement in operating margin was largely due to the significant absorption of fixed expenses on a high revenue base.
India’s data centre industry has expanded at 25.47% annually from 2021 to 2025, and currently ranks among the fastest growing by capacity in the Asia-Pacific region, according to an October 2025 joint report by Lattice Technologies and Cushman & Wakefield India.
However, India’s data centre industry is still at an early stage compared to global leaders. The US, for instance, has a built capacity nearly 18 times greater than that of India, while China’s is around 3.5 times larger.