New Delhi Data Centre Fire Disrupts Google Cloud and Destroys Decades of Customer Data
An early morning fire at the STT Global Data Centres India facility in New Delhi has caused extensive infrastructure damage, triggering network disruptions for Google Cloud services and threatening the permanent loss of decades of corporate data for clients. The blaze, which Delhi fire authorities reported broke out in lithium battery units, severely damaged server racks and electrical systems inside the facility.
The facility is operated as a joint venture between Singapore's ST Telemedia and Tata Communications. Following the incident, which was reported to Indian stock exchanges on June 5, Tata Communications activated its business continuity plans to limit disruptions and began moving affected customers to alternate capacity where possible.
However, several major clients are facing severe consequences. Matrix Cellular, an Indian company selling international SIM cards, reported that it has potentially lost access to over 20 years of accumulated operational, billing, and customer data stored at the centre. Matrix Cellular CEO Gaurav Khanna stated that the company's sales have fallen sharply due to the outage and noted that backups had still not been restored weeks after the incident.
Google Cloud also experienced intermittent network disruptions in India linked to the fire. Google confirmed that an emergency power shutdown of networking equipment was required due to the fire at the third-party facility. In an update, Google warned customers of ongoing latency issues until the facility is fully restored.
Another affected client, internet service provider R2 Net, faces estimated losses of $2 million and potential customer defections. According to R2 Net CEO Sanjay Singh, the fire also impacted vital tracking data stored on the servers, which is utilized by law enforcement agencies to monitor illegal internet activity.
Novamesh, a unit of Tata Communications, described the incident as a force majeure event in a letter to Matrix Cellular, citing significant challenges to recovering the affected data due to the severity of the damage. Television footage from inside the facility revealed completely burned server racks, collapsed ceiling panels, and debris scattered across the floor.
STT Global Data Centres India stated that its initial assessment indicated the impact was limited to a single data hall and its associated infrastructure. The company has initiated an independent technical root cause analysis, which is expected to take five to seven weeks. Tata Communications stated it has restored services for all customers who subscribed to its recovery and backup services.
