InterGlobix Magazine Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Jasmine Bedi, sat down in conversation with Rangu Salgame to discuss creating a pan Asia Pacific data center business to serve some of the world’s largest and most demanding cloud and technology companies. From its initial developments in Singapore, China and Indonesia to more recent successful projects in India, Malaysia, and Japan as well as future planned expansions in South Korea and Australia, Salgame showcases PDG’s rapid expansion for AI-ready data centers in Asia Pacific.
Princeton Digital Group (PDG) was founded in 2017, and the company has already grown massively in such a short period of time. What drove your vision for building this pan-Asia data center presence?
When my cofounder, Varoon Raghavan, and I launched PDG seven years ago, we were driven by the idea that there was a gap in the market in Asia for hyperscalers to procure data center capacity across multiple countries at global standards. In other words, US hyperscalers buying in Mumbai or Singapore or Tokyo should feel as if they’re buying in Ashburn, Virginia or Dallas, Texas. So, from day one, we wanted to be a multi-customer, pan Asia Pacific operator. It wasn’t about starting in one country and then expanding into others or taking a relationship with one hyperscaler and building deals with others from there. We have had personal experience in fostering hyperscale relationships and deep operating knowledge in all Asian markets, so we went into the journey with all the tools we needed in our toolbox to build a multi-country platform in the data center business.
The name of our company comes from my hometown, Princeton, New Jersey, though the business side of PDG began at an office in New York. We were fortunate to get backed at the start by Warburg Pincus, one of the most premier private equity firms in growth capital. Shortly thereafter we quickly established roots in Singapore. We have now established operations in six countries, built a portfolio exceeding one gigawatt of capacity, and successfully captured a significant share of both the cloud business and the first wave of AI-driven growth in Asia. These accomplishments have firmly positioned PDG as a key beneficiary of the region’s continued growth. Along the way, we’ve also had two other premier financial institutions invest in us (Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan in 2020 and Mubadala in 2022), so we have three blue chip, deep-pocketed investors supporting us.
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ABOUT RANGU SALGAME
Rangu Salgame is a visionary leader with a proven track record of making a lasting impact in both global tech giants and emerging ventures. His strategic approach has consistently transformed business portfolios into high value outcomes at companies such as Tata Communications, Cisco Systems, and Verizon Communications. Salgame’s unique ability to operate seamlessly across diverse environments—from Silicon Valley to capital markets, industry ecosystems, and policy makers—has enabled him to forge deep partnerships with both government and business leaders. His extensive global experience spans over 30 countries and markets, including the US, China, India, Japan, Brazil, the Middle East, and Europe.
In addition to his leadership at PDG, Salgame serves on the Foreign Policy Leadership Council at The Brookings Institution and is a board director at BCIU.
