Gul Ahmed Energy-backed firm plans Pakistan’s largest Tier III data centre

Quantum Global Data Centre, a venture of Gul Ahmed Energy Group, plans to develop what it says will be Pakistan’s largest Tier III data centre, with operations scheduled to begin in 2027 and an initial investment of $230 million, according to a news report. 

Quantum Global Data Centre announced the project after signing a strategic partnership agreement with Huawei Pakistan for the development of the facility and an associated science and technology park.

The partnership is aimed at building local digital infrastructure to support businesses, public services and institutions shifting towards cloud-based systems.

The project’s total investment could increase to $600 million over the next three to four years as demand for cloud services, artificial intelligence computing and data storage expands.

Speaking at the Q Summit, Quantum Global Data Centre Chairman Danish Iqbal said Pakistan was still at an early stage of artificial intelligence adoption but was already spending between $700 million and $800 million annually on related computing requirements.

He said demand for computing capacity was expected to rise as artificial intelligence use expanded across different sectors.

Iqbal warned that without domestic data centres, Pakistan could become increasingly dependent on imported computing capacity and data services, resulting in expenditure worth billions of dollars.

He said local demand for data centre capacity was already substantial and would continue to grow as businesses, hospitals, educational institutions and digital service providers migrated to cloud platforms.

The planned Tier III facility is expected to provide infrastructure for data storage, processing and cloud-based computing when it becomes operational in 2027.

Speakers at the summit said investment in domestic digital infrastructure could support economic activity by reducing dependence on overseas data services and increasing access to local computing capacity.