Senate Approves Data Center Bill
Many committees will begin meeting this month.
Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA bill designed to support the growth of data centers in Indiana has passed the Indiana Senate. House Bill 1405 provides a state sales and use tax exemption for the purchase of certain equipment for data centers depending on the developer’s investment in the project.
The Senate voted unanimously to approve the bill, which previously passed the House by a 95-1 vote. As part of the bill, the electricity used by qualified data centers will also be exempt from the state’s sales tax. The Senate included a "Buy Indiana" amendment which provides an additional exemption for construction costs if 75 percent of the construction materials and labor are sourced from Indiana vendors.
The developers of the $40 million Digital Crossroads Lake Michigan Data Center campus in Hammond, which broke ground in August, expressed their support for the move.
"The Indiana Senate sent a serious message to the entire data industry that Indiana is very serious about becoming their destination of choice for expansion," said Tom Dakich of Digital Crossroads. "Not only does HB 1405 bring Indiana into consideration for companies looking for data center expansion but it also evens the playing field throughout all counties in our state by creating tiers of investment for smaller counties."
The bill now heads back to the House for final approval. Representative Ed Soliday (R-Valparaiso) says tells our partners at The Times of Northwest Indiana he intends to submit the bill for final approval as soon as possible.
You can read more from The Times by clicking here.