# Data centres and cloud: Value chain, from upstream to the customer

Server halls and cloud providers renting compute, storage and networks; heavy power users

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/data_centres/value-chain/

#### Value chain, from upstream to the customer
**Criticality to the chain:** 5 · Chokepoint 4 · Critical 3 · Important 2 · Supporting 1 · Commodity service Stage 1 **Capital, land and powerInfrastructure investors and data-centre developers**3 · Important

Raise equity and debt, buy land with power access and develop powered shells or full campuses that are leased to clouds and colocation tenants.^[4](https://cxotoday.com/hardware/cbre-h1-2026-report-india-data-center-capacity-hits-1-75-gw-set-to-cross-2-gw-by-year-end/)
**Why important:** Capital is plentiful from many funds, but the scale is extreme (about US$ 173 billion committed in India since 2021 alone) and a pull-back would slow builds. Technologies Powered-land banking Build-to-suit leases Project finance and green bonds Site selection for power, water and fibre Depends on Industries [Finance: banking, insurance, markets](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/finance/)[Real estate](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/real_estate/)**Examples:** Blackstone (QTS), Brookfield, KKR, AdaniConneX

**Utilities and clean-power developers**5 · Chokepoint

Connect campuses to the grid and sign long-term power purchase agreements, increasingly for dedicated solar, wind, gas or nuclear supply.^[1](https://www.iea.org/reports/energy-and-ai/executive-summary)
**Why chokepoint:** Grid connection is now the binding constraint: the IEA projects data-centre use more than doubling to about 945 TWh by 2030, new substations take years, and there is no substitute for firm power. Technologies High-voltage substations Corporate renewable PPAs Round-the-clock hybrid renewables with storage Gas turbines and small modular reactors (planned) Depends on Commodities [Cu Copper](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/copper/)[Gas Natural gas](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/natural_gas/)[U Uranium](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/uranium/)[Si Silicon](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/silicon/) Energy [HVAC AC transmission](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_hvac/)[PV Solar photovoltaics](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_pv/)[WOn Onshore wind](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_onshore_wind/)[CCGT Gas turbines and combined cycle](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_gas_turbines/) Industries [Electrical equipment](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/electrical_equipment/)[Construction and infrastructure](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/construction/)**Examples:** NTPC, Tata Power, Adani Green Energy, NextEra Energy, Constellation Energy  Stage 2 **Building and facility equipmentData-centre construction contractors**2 · Supporting

Design and build the shells, electrical rooms, cooling plant and fit-out, often on fast-track contracts of 12 to 24 months.
**Why supporting:** Many general and specialist contractors compete, though skilled electricians and commissioning engineers are scarce in hot markets. Technologies Modular and prefabricated construction Building information modelling Raised-floor and slab designs for liquid cooling Commissioning and integrated systems testing Depends on Commodities [Cem Cement](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/cement/)[St Steel](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/steel/)[Cu Copper](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/copper/)[Al Aluminium](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/aluminum/) Chemicals [Con Construction chemicals](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/construction_chemicals/)[FR Flame retardants](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/flame_retardants/) Energy [Oil Crude oil](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/crude_oil/) Industries [Construction and infrastructure](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/construction/)[Building materials](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/building_materials/)**Examples:** Larsen & Toubro, Turner Construction, DPR Construction, Sterling and Wilson

**Electrical and cooling equipment makers**4 · Critical

Supply transformers, switchgear, UPS systems, backup generators, chillers and liquid-cooling units for each megawatt of IT load.^[5](https://www.eenews.net/articles/data-center-surge-is-driving-up-transformer-costs/)
**Why critical:** A few global firms supply most gear, and US transformer lead times have doubled or tripled since 2019 to as long as four years (Wood Mackenzie), so equipment shortages can delay campuses by a year or more. Technologies Uninterruptible power supplies with lithium batteries Medium-voltage switchgear and busways Diesel and gas backup generators Chillers and evaporative cooling Direct-to-chip and immersion liquid cooling Depends on Commodities [Cu Copper](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/copper/)[St Steel](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/steel/)[Li Lithium](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/lithium/)[Pb Lead](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/lead/)[Al Aluminium](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/aluminum/) Chemicals [HFC Fluorochemicals and refrigerants](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/fluoro_intermediates/)[MEG Monoethylene glycol](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/meg/)[PTFE Fluoropolymers (PTFE, PVDF)](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/fluoropolymers/) Energy [PE Transformers and power electronics](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_power_electronics/)[HP Heat pumps, air conditioning and refrigeration](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_heat_pumps/)[ICE Internal combustion engines and gensets](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_engines/)[LFP Lithium iron phosphate batteries](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_li_lfp/) Industries [Electrical equipment](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/electrical_equipment/)[Machinery and equipment](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/machinery/)**Examples:** Schneider Electric, Vertiv, Eaton, ABB, Cummins  Stage 3 **IT hardwareAI accelerator and server-chip makers**5 · Chokepoint

Design the GPUs, custom AI chips and server CPUs that are now the largest single cost of an AI data centre, sold to clouds and server makers.^[6](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1045810/000104581026000019/q4fy26pr.htm)
**Why chokepoint:** Nvidia booked US$ 193.7 billion of data-centre revenue in its year to January 2026, far ahead of any rival, and its software stack locks in users; nearly all leading AI chips are made at one foundry with scarce advanced packaging. Technologies GPUs with high-bandwidth memory Custom AI ASICs (TPU-type) Server CPUs (x86 and Arm) Scale-up interconnects (NVLink-type) AI software stacks (CUDA-type) Depends on Commodities [Si Silicon](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/silicon/)[Cu Copper](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/copper/) Chemicals [ESG Electronic specialty gases](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/electronic_gases/) Energy [DC Data centres](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_data_centres/) Industries [Semiconductors](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/semiconductors/)**Examples:** Nvidia, AMD, Broadcom, Intel

**Server, storage and network equipment makers**3 · Important

Build and integrate servers, storage arrays, switches and full AI racks, selling to clouds, colocation tenants and enterprises.
**Why important:** Several branded and Taiwanese contract makers compete, but rack integration capacity for the newest AI systems is tight. Technologies Rack-scale AI systems Liquid-cooled server trays Ethernet and InfiniBand switches NVMe flash storage Optical transceivers Depends on Commodities [Cu Copper](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/copper/)[Au Gold](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/gold/)[Al Aluminium](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/aluminum/)[In Indium](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/indium/) Chemicals [EPX Epoxy resins](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/epoxy/)[FR Flame retardants](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/flame_retardants/) Energy [PE Transformers and power electronics](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_power_electronics/) Industries [Computers and electronics](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/computers_electronics/)[Semiconductors](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/semiconductors/)**Examples:** Dell Technologies, Supermicro, Quanta, Arista Networks, Netweb Technologies  Stage 4 **ConnectivityFibre carriers and interconnection providers**3 · Important

Link campuses to each other, to internet exchanges and to subsea cable landings, selling dark fibre, wavelengths and cross-connects.
**Why important:** Major hubs have several carriers, but a campus without diverse fibre routes cannot sell to clouds or banks. Technologies Dark fibre and DWDM Internet exchanges and peering Subsea cable landing stations Data-centre interconnect optics Depends on Commodities [Ge Germanium](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/germanium/) Energy [Dist Distribution grids, mini-grids and interconnectors](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_distribution/) Industries [Telecommunications](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/telecom/)**Examples:** Tata Communications, Bharti Airtel (Nxtra), Lumen Technologies, Sify Technologies  Stage 5 **Facility operationColocation and wholesale data-centre operators**3 · Important

Run secure, powered and cooled halls, leasing space and power by the rack or the megawatt to clouds, banks, telecom firms and enterprises.^[4](https://cxotoday.com/hardware/cbre-h1-2026-report-india-data-center-capacity-hits-1-75-gw-set-to-cross-2-gw-by-year-end/)
**Why important:** Many global and Indian operators compete in major hubs, but moving a deployed tenant is slow and costly. Technologies Tier III and Tier IV redundant design Data-centre infrastructure management software Physical security and compliance Water-efficient cooling Heat reuse Depends on Commodities [H₂O Water](https://www.materialinsights.org/commodities/water/) Chemicals [WT Water treatment chemicals](https://www.materialinsights.org/chemicals/water_treatment/) Energy [DC Data centres](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_data_centres/)[Dist Distribution grids, mini-grids and interconnectors](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_distribution/)[HP Heat pumps, air conditioning and refrigeration](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_heat_pumps/)[ICE Internal combustion engines and gensets](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_engines/) Industries [Water and sanitation](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/water_sanitation/)[Real estate](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/real_estate/)[Electrical equipment](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/electrical_equipment/)**Examples:** Equinix, Digital Realty, NTT Global Data Centers, STT GDC India, CtrlS  Stage 6 **Cloud servicesHyperscale cloud providers**4 · Critical

Build and operate global fleets of data centres and rent compute, storage, databases and AI services by the hour to businesses, governments and AI developers.^[2](https://www.techinsights.com/ja/node/61571)^,^[3](https://www.ciodive.com/news/hyperscaler-capex-cloud-ai-building-boom-bubble-srg/808618/)
**Why critical:** Amazon (28%), Microsoft (21%) and Google (14%) took about 63% of cloud infrastructure revenue in Q4 2025 and migrating large workloads takes months to years, though Oracle, regional clouds and GPU clouds offer alternatives. Technologies Virtualisation and containers Custom server and AI chips Global software-defined networks Managed AI model services Sovereign and local cloud regions Depends on Energy [DC Data centres](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_data_centres/)[PV Solar photovoltaics](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_pv/)[NFR Nuclear fission reactors](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_fission/) Industries [Computers and electronics](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/computers_electronics/)[Software and IT services](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/software_it/)[Telecommunications](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/telecom/)[Construction and infrastructure](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/construction/)**Examples:** Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, Oracle Cloud, Yotta Data Services · ≈ US$ 419 billion of cloud infrastructure services revenue in 2025^[2](https://www.techinsights.com/ja/node/61571)

## Other sections

- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/data_centres/index.md)
- [Where ₹100 goes](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/data_centres/cost-mix/index.md)
- [Price links with suppliers](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/data_centres/price-links/index.md)
- [Example story](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/data_centres/story/index.md)
- [Linked industries](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/data_centres/linked-industries/index.md)
- [Materials drawn on](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/data_centres/materials/index.md)
- [Chokepoints and risks](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/data_centres/risks/index.md)
- [Sources](https://www.materialinsights.org/industries/data_centres/sources/index.md)