Equinix appoints Manoj Paul as India Managing Director

Digital infrastructure company Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) has announced that it has extended Platform Equinix into the strategic Indian market, following the completion of the acquisition of the INDIA operations of GPX Global Systems, Inc. The US$161 million all-cash transaction includes a fiber-connected campus in MUMBAI with two data centers.

Equinix’s expansion into India will unlock opportunities for Indian businesses expanding internationally and for multinational corporations pursuing growth and innovation in the Indian market. With the upcoming 5G rollout in the country, companies can get ahead in the digital era with Equinix and benefit from the ability to accelerate their evolution from traditional to digital businesses by rapidly digitizing and scaling their infrastructure, easily adopting hybrid multicloud architectures and interconnecting with more than 350 international brands and local companies in India.

Equinix India will be led by Managing Director Manoj Paul, a veteran with more than two decades of experience who will leverage his deep insights into the local data center industry to support the digital transformation journeys of businesses in India.

Manoj Paul has over 25 years of extensive experience in IT and telecom infrastructure. Prior to Equinix, he led the India operation of GPX India, helping it to emerge as India’s most prominent carrier-neutral and cloud-dense data center. Before joining GPX India, Mr Paul spent 11 years with Bharti Airtel Ltd, where his last role was Chief Operating Officer (Enterprises) for the Western region.

From the acquisition, the two new International Business Exchange (IBX) data centers in Mumbai, dubbed Equinix MB1 and MB2, form a network-dense data center campus with more than 350 international brands and local companies, including the world’s leading cloud service providers (CSPs), global networks, content delivery network (CDN) providers, all local carriers, 170 internet service providers (ISPs) and five internet exchanges.

The two data centers in Mumbai provide an initial 1,350 cabinets, with an additional 500 cabinets to buildout. The facilities will add more than 90,000 square feet of colocation space to Platform Equinix when fully built.

Equinix’s Mumbai campus offers a cloud-dense environment and direct access to major cloud services, including AWS Direct Connect, Google Cloud Dedicated Interconnect and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure FastConnect. It also hosts key internet exchanges such as AMS-IX India, Extreme IX, Mumbai IX-DECIX, National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) and Bharat IX, allowing ISPs, carriers, CDNs and large enterprises to exchange internet traffic.

Manoj Paul, Managing Director, Equinix India, commented:

“Extending Platform Equinix to India with the addition of two world-class, highly interconnected data centers provides a platform for additional expansion across the country, and I am excited about the opportunities ahead for Equinix. With the global footprint of Equinix and the industry’s largest ecosystem, we are well-positioned to be a critical part as well as a driving force of the digital revolution in India, helping businesses to leap forward domestically and globally.”