Water scarcity in India: Google to air-cool its biggest data centre outside the US
Google's $15 billion project in Visakhapatnam faces protests. The company is opting for air rather than water cooling, while activists demand a moratorium on new data centres.
Symbolic image · Photo: IM3847 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Google is defending its planned AI data centre in Visakhapatnam in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh against mounting criticism. The gigawatt-scale facility is part of a $15 billion investment, is due to open in 2028 and will be Google's largest AI hub outside the United States. Because Google's own water assessment pointed to pressure on the local watershed, the centre will be cooled with air rather than water, Alexander Smith, Google's head of infrastructure and energy for Asia-Pacific, told AFP.
Residents nonetheless fear the project will further strain water and power in an already stretched region. According to Business Standard, citing the Guardian, three petitions challenging the environmental clearances are pending before India's National Green Tribunal, and activists are calling for a moratorium on new data centres in Andhra Pradesh. Villagers also accuse the government of taking back land without adequate notice, which the state denies.
Google has pledged to pay for the necessary grid upgrades and to fund additional clean energy projects. If there is not enough power, Google “will either find ways to develop more power, or it will not build there,” Smith said. The company puts the annual local economic activity at about $688 million. In Finland, the regulator recently halted preparatory work at Google's Muhos and Kajaani sites pending environmental impact assessments.