By Abhirami G

BENGALURU, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Sify Infinit Spaces

, set to become India's first listed data center

operator, sees AI driving demand for computing power but is

tempering future investments to avoid over-exposure to a

potential bubble, its chief executive said.

The surge in artificial intelligence technologies, which

require massive computing power, has spurred unprecedented

growth in data centers worldwide, including India. But Sify

Infinit will keep expansion "responsible and calculated" to

ensure it matches sustainable demand, CEO Sharad Agarwal told

Reuters in an interview late November.

The company, whose parent Sify Technologies ( SIFY ) was

among India's first private internet providers and a key player

in the early internet boom, now aims to diversify beyond

hyperscalers - large cloud service providers - by expanding its

client base to banks, financial services, e-commerce, and media

firms.

"We've seen the dot-com bubble, we've seen the subprime

crisis, and we have seen quite a few cycles in the past. We are

able (to cut) through the reality and 'bubble-ness' of a

technological development," Agarwal said.

He said AI is not a technology bubble, but warned that herd

mentality could spur overbuilding and create a capacity glut.

India's data center capacity is expected to more than triple

to 4.7 gigawatt by 2030, from 1.3 GW in April 2025, driven by

rising cloud adoption and AI workloads, according to market

research firm Mordor Intelligence.

The Kotak Private Equity-backed company, which runs 14 data

centers across India and has 11 more under development, had

filed draft papers in October for a 37 billion rupee ($410.87

million) initial public offering.

Its projects have two- to three-year lead times, which gives

the company room to adjust if sentiment cools, Agarwal said.

Hyperscalers such as Alphabet, Amazon ( AMZN ) and

Microsoft ( MSFT ) still dominate data-capacity demand, but edge

data centers, or smaller, local hubs, are gaining traction, he

said, as streaming and entertainment consumption grows in

non-metro cities.

Sify ( SIFY ) has begun building an edge data center in the eastern

port city of Visakhapatnam. The city has recently drawn

investments from Reliance, Adani, and

Google.

($1 = 90.0525 Indian rupees)