Company: GDHLF
Filing Date: 2025-04-28
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0001410578-25-000935
Chunk: 226

Company: GDS Holdings Ltd
Filing Date: 2025-04-28
Form: 20-F
Item: Item 4
Chunk 226
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 statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry that spearheads industrial development in Singapore. Principally, JTC administers such data centers as a landlord/lessor through leases with tenures of 20 up to 30-years. In 2025, JTC refined the land lease framework to better accommodate the needs of lessees. Under the new framework, greenfield allocations involving new construction will benefit from an additional three-year lease period dedicated to the building phase, ensuring that lessees can fully utilize the intended lease term. Furthermore, the framework introduces greater flexibility for 20-year leases, allowing them to be extended with two additional five-year renewal terms, contingent upon the lessee’s commitment to new investments. However, JTC has required certain leases to expire by 2050.

JTC leases typically provide that the lessee is to commence business operations within 6-12 months from the completion of development of the property. Furthermore, the lessee is normally obliged to conduct continuous operations of the property only for the authorized use throughout the lease term. There are also sustainability and energy efficiency requirements. For JTC fresh allocations, renewals, and extensions, JTC will mandate that lessees meet a fixed minimum investment criterion concerning fixed asset investments. In 2025, JTC expanded the definition of plant and machinery (P& M) investments to encompass verifiable investments in innovation, research and development, digitalization, and intellectual property creation. Any disposal of interests (including assignment and disposal) under the JTC leases would also require the consent of JTC and typically, consent can only be obtained after an initial prohibition period. The lessee is also required to construct the building within a building period, typically within 3 to 5 years, if the lessee is allocated land directly from JTC.

Table of Contents

In view of recent policy considerations, there are sustainability requirements implemented by JTC and other regulatory bodies for the development of data centers. In 2019, the Singapore government sought to manage the growth of data centers by imposing a moratorium on new data center projects. This moratorium has since been lifted in 2022, transitioning to a more selective approach through the pilot “ Data Centre - Call for Application (DC-CFA)” exercise launched on July 20, 2022. Under this initiative, applicants must achieve a number of requirements, including at least a Platinum certification under the BCA-IMDA Green Mark for New Data Centre scheme launched on October 18, 2024, power usage