The ever-increasing trend of over 700 million internet users in India, who consume data for multiple aspects ranging digital entertainment to digital commerce and social media, have propelled India to emerge as one of the fastest growing digital economy in the world. The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the data consumption and consequential need for greater bandwidth and storage capacity. The \u201cDigital India\u201d mission National e-Governance Plan (NeGP), e-visa, and National CSR Data portal of the Indian Government have increased the emphasis on self-reliance, which is dependent on data localization. These initiatives, which involve large volume of data, have necessitated the need for data centers and cloud services.<\/p>

In 2021 we expect to have a more broad-based cloud adoption across Government and public sector at large, corporates, SMBs and startups. Some of this has been in the works for a while now. Hyperscalers initiated operations in the region between 2015 \u2013 2017 and cloud powered transformational mandates have particularly intensified in the last two years. We also see several tailwinds accelerate this pace:<\/p>

• Adoption of virtual business models due to Covid-19<\/li>
• Government of India\u2019s digital initiatives, cloud adoption push, regulatory shifts and several proposals around incentives for cloud and data center players<\/li>
• Maturity in associated ecosystem (network modernization, fiberization, 5G, data center investments, power infrastructure)<\/li>
• Preference for asset light models across the board.<\/li> <\/ul>
  

  We have seen a significant market activity in the underlying data center space in India. 2019 \u2013 20 saw over fourteen key transactions of over US$ 1.5 billion. We expect this to continue as the colocation space in India is expected to grow to over 1.81 million square feet by 2024. Key drivers of this growth will include interest from global data centre players, broadening of existing footprint by hyperscalers and introduction of some new market participants.<\/p>
  

  Picking up from the Union budget proposal during February 2020, to introduce a policy for enabling private sector to build Data Centre parks throughout the country for playing a key role in shaping India as the World\u2019s Data Center Hub, on 5th November 2020, the Indian Government released the draft for Data Center Policy 2020. As per the draft policy, data centre infrastructure in India is \u201cnecessitated by the data localization provisions of proposed Data Protection Act and for protection of the digital sovereignty of the country in an increasingly connected world\u201d. Recognizing that data centres are critical to the functioning of the internet, and as Indians\u2019 data use grows exponentially, the draft Data Centre policy aims to transform India into a global data centre hub and reduce the hurdles to make India as a global data centre for the world. By designating data centres as \u201cinfrastructure\u201d, the draft policy contemplates that the sector will be able to access credit, with similar ease as in case of other essential infrastructures like roadways, railways and electricity grids, telecom networks, etc. Additionally, the draft data centre policy while encouraging foreign investments, also aims to promote indigenous manufacturing for reducing import burden on India.<\/p>
  

  Besides according critical support to data centre set ups by way of provision of land parcels with essential municipal supplies, faster single window clearances, data centre facilitation units, cheaper and uninterrupted electricity, the Indian Government proposes robust and cost effective sharing of infrastructure with the Department of Telecommunications, access to fibre bandwidth through utility corridors to ensure seamless international connectivity with Indian data centres. Among the other key offerings and value propositions under the draft data policy, the two most noteworthy proposals are the Data Centre Incentivisation (DCI) Scheme and Data Centre Economic Zone (DCEZ) Scheme.<\/p>
  

  The DCI Scheme proposes formulation of fiscal and non-fiscal incentives including tax breaks for the data centre facility. The DCEZ scheme is proposed as a central sector scheme to promote set up of data centre economic zones, with the most conducive non-IT and IT infrastructure, connectivity, power and regulatory environment, through fewer regulations, similar to the Special Economic Zones (SEZs). Both these sub-schemes have considerable importance in paving the success story for India emerging as a global data centre hub for the world. Budget 2021 may need to be watched out for appropriate reforms. Besides the above proposals, without militating against evolving global tax policies to prevent tax avoidance and evasion, there is a need to roll out digital tax policies providing certainty about cloud computing services, guidance about potential Permanent Establishment implications for non-resident cloud service providers, planning to have data centres in India. Interpretations under the recently introduced equalisation levy provisions under the Finance Act as well as the yet to be operative Significant Economic Presence provisions under the Income Tax Act reflect varied open issues under the Indian tax policy, requiring clarity from the Government. It may be noted that uncertain tax policies could retard the desired global data centre vision of the Indian Government. Therefore, fiscal measures to impart optimum tax certainty would stand India in good stead directionally in this regard.<\/p>
  

  It is equally imperative that Government provides specific clarity around the Indirect taxes applicability and taxability for the players in the global data centre ecosystem. Further, a relaxation towards eligibility of input tax credit on Capital Goods for global data centres providing services to overseas customers could help economize the cost of rendering such services. Also, appropriate clearances to facilitate quick set up and\/or expansion including extending of state incentives such as subsidy or refund of Goods and Services tax (GST) on procurements would boost the setup opportunities in India. Additionally, given multiple interpretations that exists, there is a need for clarity around the scope of \u2018Intermediary Services\u2019, which could avoid any unwarranted litigation that has currently engulfed GIC\/GCC, BPO industries.<\/p>
  

  While Companies and Industries seem to be positive about the data center ecosystem in the country, it\u2019s imperative for the Government to ensure through appropriate investor friendly tax and regulatory policy implementations in this regard.<\/p>","blog_img":"","posted_date":"2021-01-19 17:49:48","modified_date":"2021-01-19 17:50:47","featured":"0","status":"Y","seo_title":"Data centers in India - certain expectations from Budget 2021","seo_url":"data-centers-in-india-certain-expectations-from-budget-2021","url":"\/\/www.iser-br.com\/tele-talk\/data-centers-in-india-certain-expectations-from-budget-2021\/4750","url_seo":"data-centers-in-india-certain-expectations-from-budget-2021"}">

  印度超过7亿互联网用户的不断增长趋势，他们在数字娱乐、数字商业和社交媒体等多个方面消费数据，推动印度成为世界上增长最快的数字经济体之一。2019冠状病毒病(Covid-19)大流行加速了数据消耗，并因此需要更大的带宽和存储容量。“数字印度印度政府的国家电子政务计划(NeGP)、电子签证和国家企业社会责任数据门户网站增加了对依赖于数据本地化的自力更生的强调。这些举措涉及大量数据，因此需要数据中心和设备云服务。

  
  

  在2021年，我们预计将有一个更广泛的云计算采用遍及政府和公共部门，大公司，中小企业和初创公司。其中一些已经进行了一段时间了。超大规模企业在2015年至2017年期间开始在该地区开展业务，过去两年云驱动的转型任务尤其加强。我们也看到了几个因素加速了这一步伐:

  
  

  • 采用虚拟商业Covid-19模型
  • 印度政府的数字计划、云采用推动、监管转变以及围绕云和数据中心参与者激励措施的几项提议
  • 相关生态系统的成熟度(网络现代化、光纤化、5G、数据中心投资、电力基础设施)
  • 全面偏爱轻资产模型。

  
  

  我们已经看到印度底层数据中心领域的重要市场活动，2019 - 20年有超过14笔关键交易，超过15亿美元。我们预计这种情况将继续下去，因为到2024年，印度的托管空间预计将增长到181万平方英尺以上。这一增长的主要驱动力将包括全球数据中心参与者的兴趣、超大规模企业扩大现有足迹以及一些新的市场参与者的引入。

  
  

  根据2020年2月的联邦预算提案，引入一项政策，使私营部门能够在全国各地建设数据中心园区，在将印度塑造为世界数据中心枢纽方面发挥关键作用，印度政府于2020年11月5日发布了该草案数据中心政策2020．根据政策草案，印度的数据中心基础设施是“拟议中的数据保护法的数据本地化规定所必需的，也是为了在日益互联的世界中保护国家的数字主权”。认识到数据中心对于互联网的运行至关重要，随着印度人的数据使用呈指数级增长，数据中心政策草案旨在将印度转变为全球数据中心枢纽，并减少使印度成为全球数据中心的障碍。通过将数据中心指定为“基础设施”，政策草案考虑到该部门将能够获得信贷，就像公路、铁路和电网、电信网络等其他重要基础设施一样容易。此外，数据中心政策草案在鼓励外国投资的同时，还旨在促进本土制造业，以减轻印度的进口负担。

  
  

  除了通过提供具有基本市政用品的地块、更快的单窗口通关、数据中心促进单元、更便宜且不间断的电力等方式对数据中心的建立提供关键支持外，印度政府还提议与电信部共享强大且具有成本效益的基础设施，通过公用设施走廊接入光纤带宽，以确保与印度数据中心的无缝国际连接。在数据政策草案下的其他关键产品和价值主张中，最值得注意的两个建议是数据中心激励(DCI)方案和数据中心经济区(DCEZ)计划。

  
  

  DCI计划建议为数据中心设施制定财政和非财政激励措施，包括税收优惠。DCEZ计划是一个中央部门计划，旨在推动建立数据中心经济区，通过较少的监管，提供最有利的非IT和IT基础设施、连通性、电力和监管环境，类似于经济特区(经济特区)。这两个子计划在为印度成为全球数据中心枢纽铺平成功道路方面具有相当重要的意义。预算2021可能需要注意适当的改革。除了上述建议，在不影响不断发展的全球税收政策以防止避税和逃税的情况下，有必要推出数字税收政策，为云计算服务提供确定性，指导非居民云服务提供商的潜在常设机构影响，计划在印度设立数据中心。根据《财政法案》中最近引入的平等征税条款以及《所得税法》中尚未生效的重大经济存在条款的解释，反映了印度税收政策下的各种开放问题，要求政府明确。值得注意的是，不确定的税收政策可能会阻碍印度政府所期望的全球数据中心愿景。因此，提供最佳税收确定性的财政措施将在这方面对印度有利。

  
  

  同样重要的是，政府必须为全球数据中心生态系统中的参与者提供间接税适用性和可征税性的具体清晰度。此外，放宽向海外客户提供服务的全球数据中心的资本货物进项税抵免资格，有助于节约提供此类服务的成本。此外，适当的清理，以促进快速设立和/或扩张，包括延长国家激励措施，如补贴或退还商品和服务税(销售税)将增加在印度的投资机会。此外，鉴于存在多种解释，有必要明确“中介服务”的范围，这可以避免目前吞噬GIC/GCC、BPO行业的任何无根据诉讼。

  
  

  虽然公司和行业似乎对该国的数据中心生态系统持积极态度，但政府必须确保在这方面通过适当的投资者友好的税收和监管政策的实施。

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