Tata Data Center Fire Disrupts Google Cloud Services.. Triggers Widespread Network Instability in India

A major fire at a data center operated by a joint venture involving Tata Communications and Singapore-based ST Telemedia has caused significant infrastructure damage and triggered cascading disruptions across parts of India’s digital and cloud network, including intermittent outages affecting Google Cloud services.

According to a document reviewed by Reuters, the fire caused “severe damage” to sections of the New Delhi-based facility, severely complicating ongoing efforts to restore lost data and systems.

The incident was first disclosed by Tata Communications on June 5, when the company informed Indian stock exchanges that it had activated business continuity protocols to contain operational disruptions following the blaze at the STT Global Data Centres facility.

In a subsequent communication to a client in mid-June, Novamish, a subsidiary of Tata Communications, described the fire as “intense enough to cause extensive destruction” across parts of the site, resulting in significant service outages.

Despite ongoing recovery efforts, the company acknowledged that the scale of the damage presents major challenges for restoring affected systems and recovering lost data. Video footage from the facility reportedly showed severely burned server racks, damaged electrical infrastructure, collapsed ceiling panels, and widespread debris across critical operational zones.

The impact of the fire has extended beyond Tata’s own operations, with global technology services also affected. A source familiar with the matter told Reuters that the intermittent disruptions experienced on Google Cloud’s network in India were directly linked to the incident at the data center.

Google confirmed on its status page that a fire at a third-party data facility had required an emergency shutdown of network power equipment. The company warned that customers may continue to experience degraded network performance until full restoration is completed.

The outage has raised concerns among enterprise customers reliant on continuous cloud connectivity. Gaurav Khanna, CEO of Indian international telecom firm Matrix Cellular, said the company may have lost access to two decades’ worth of operational and commercial data, adding that backup systems had not yet been restored after more than 20 days.

Meanwhile, Sanjay Singh, CEO of internet service provider R2 Net, estimated losses of around $2 million and warned of significant customer attrition due to prolonged service disruption. Singh also said that the fire destroyed critical tracking data used by security and law enforcement agencies to monitor illicit online activity.

Preliminary assessments from fire authorities suggest the blaze may have originated in lithium battery units, though a full forensic investigation is still underway. A representative from the data center operator said a detailed technical review is expected to take five to seven weeks to determine the root cause of the incident.

In response to compensation claims, Tata’s data center unit has invoked a force majeure clause, arguing that contractual service obligations were disrupted due to extraordinary circumstances beyond its control. The company maintains that it had deployed advanced fire suppression and protection systems at the facility, although the extent of the damage has raised questions about their effectiveness.

The incident adds to a growing list of operational and cybersecurity challenges facing the broader Tata Group. Recently, Tata Electronics was reportedly affected by a cyberattack in which ransomware-linked actors claimed to have leaked internal documents allegedly belonging to major clients, including Apple and Tesla, on the dark web.

As India’s digital infrastructure becomes increasingly central to global cloud operations, the fire highlights the systemic risks associated with third-party data center dependencies and the potential for localized incidents to cascade into broader network disruptions.