A fire at the STT Global Data Centres facility in New Delhi's Next-Gen Tower on June 5 triggered a cascade of disruptions, including multi-day Google Cloud outages. The data center, operated by ST Telemedia Global Data Centres on behalf of Tata Communications, suffered extensive damage, with client data losses and equipment damage estimated in the tens of millions of dollars.
Emergency shutdowns isolated a critical internet routing point, impacting Delhi and causing latency in Mumbai and Chennai. Google Cloud confirmed intermittent network issues between June 9 and 11. Other businesses, including Matrix Cellular, were also affected.
Tata Communications notified stock exchanges the same day, signaling the fire's material impact. An independent investigation continues nearly three weeks later, indicating the severity of the incident.
The event highlights the concentration risk in India's digital infrastructure. Investors in major cloud providers like Google must account for dependencies on third-party data center operators. No cryptocurrency networks or tokens were affected.