Data center investment inflow into India nearly doubled to $9.5 billion, according to CBRE, reflecting accelerating AI infrastructure build-out in the region.

India's real estate, data center, and hospitality sectors attracted a record $9.5 billion in equity investment during the third quarter of 2026, more than doubling the $4.4 billion recorded in the same period of 2025, according to CBRE's "India Market Monitor Investments for Q3 2026" report.

Data centers captured the majority of this inflow, accounting for 57% of total equity capital. The surge was primarily driven by rising investor appetite for data centers alongside continued capital deployment into built-up office assets and land development sites.

Foreign investors accounted for approximately 59% of total inflows, marking a significant return of international capital to India's real estate markets. "This is a landmark quarter for India's real estate capital markets," said Anshuman Magazine, Chairman and CEO of CBRE for India, South-East Asia, Middle East and Africa. "Global investors have returned with conviction, and institutional capital is now flowing well beyond offices and land into data centres. It reflects how deep and diverse India's real estate market has become, and we expect this confidence to carry through the rest of the year."

The strength of Q3 activity extended into a broader trend for the year. Capital inflows for the first nine months of 2026 reached $18.6 billion, nearly double the $9.3 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2025, and already surpassing the full-year 2025 total of $14.2 billion.