Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru
Mangaluru, Dec 29: Mangaluru has emerged as a growing hub for global capability centres and technology-driven investments, recording acquisitions and investments worth around $240 million over the last four years, a recent study has revealed.
According to the Mangaluru Data Centre Feasibility Study-2025, prepared jointly by the Karnataka Digital Economy Mission, the Silicon Beach Program of Mangaluru and Deloitte India, the city is steadily positioning itself within India’s expanding GCC ecosystem. The study notes that India’s GCC market is projected to touch $110 billion by 2030, creating significant downstream opportunities for tier-2 cities like Mangaluru.
The report highlights that the banking, financial services and insurance sector, which has deep roots in Mangaluru, is expected to drive demand for regulatory technology, financial technology and AI-led automation. These segments, in turn, are likely to increase the requirement for robust data centre infrastructure in the region.
The study points out that global firms are increasingly adopting the nano-GCC model, which focuses on specialised research, innovation and value creation rather than scale. Mangaluru has been identified as one of the key emerging locations supporting this shift, aided by availability of skilled manpower, better talent retention and a business-friendly ecosystem. An independent analytics assessment has also listed Mangaluru among eight emerging Indian cities gaining traction in the GCC space.
Mangaluru’s long-standing banking heritage has been cited as another advantage. The city has one of the highest banking branch densities in the country and is the birthplace of several major banks. With accelerated digital transformation across the BFSI sector, the report notes that demand for secure data hosting and mission-critical workloads is expected to rise, further strengthening the case for data centre development.
The study also draws attention to the rapid growth of edge data centres across India, with national capacity expected to triple by 2027. Factors such as the expansion of Internet of Things applications, OTT platforms and decentralised digital architecture are expected to support the establishment of edge data centres in and around Mangaluru, bringing infrastructure closer to end users.
While the city itself may not generate large-scale demand driven by artificial intelligence and large language models, the report states that nearby technology hubs such as Bengaluru and Pune could act as demand centres. Developments in sovereign and indigenous AI initiatives at the national level are also expected to indirectly boost data centre growth in the Mangaluru region, reinforcing its role in Karnataka’s evolving digital economy.