Industry Odisha Bureau, Aug 9: As India races to establish itself as a global artificial intelligence and data-centre hub, a fundamental resource conflict is emerging beneath the servers and cables. The expansion of computing infrastructure designed to power the next generation of digital services demands enormous water resources for cooling, even as many Indian States already struggle to meet municipal and agricultural water needs. The scale of the challenge is striking: India’s data-centre water consumption is projected to reach 9.3 trillion litres annually by 2030, up from 4.5 trillion litres in 2025. The water demands of this infrastructure expansion collide directly with groundwater stress already affecting multiple regions where data centres are being located creating a policy tension that will define whether India’s digital ambitions can remain environmentally sustainable.
The computing infrastructure boom is accelerating faster than water-management frameworks can adapt. India’s data-centre capacity grew from roughly 375 megawatts in 2020 to 1,500 megawatts by 2025, with projections reaching 13.56 gigawatts by 2032. States competing for investment have deployed aggressive incentives: Andhra Pradesh offers complete GST reimbursement and stamp-duty exemptions, while Gujarat aims for 7.5 gigawatts of capacity and ₹6 lakh crore in investment. Uttar Pradesh approved its 2026 data-centre policy targeting 2 additional gigawatts. Yet these same regions face severe groundwater pressures. Gautam Buddha Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, hosting at least 17 operational or upcoming data centres, extracts groundwater at 104.79% of natural recharge rates. Visakhapatnam, selected for Google and Adani’s flagship 1-gigawatt AI campus, holds merely 2.12 thousand million cubic feet of groundwater reserves the lowest in Andhra Pradesh.
India’s overall groundwater extraction stands at 60.47%, with 11.1% of assessment units classified as over-exploited. Coastal data-centre clusters present additional complexities: Jamnagar and Dholera face seawater intrusion while pursuing major investments. Public resistance has mounted in Visakhapatnam and Thane, reflecting community concern over resource competition.
Advanced cooling technologies offer pathways forward. Seawater cooling proven at Google’s Finnish facility for over a decade could ease freshwater pressure at coastal sites, though brine discharge management remains an implementation gap. Most critically, mandatory water-use transparency is absent. Implementing transparent disclosure requirements, stronger permitting in over-exploited zones, and greater use of reclaimed wastewater could enable India to build its digital economy without sacrificing groundwater security. Without such measures, India’s AI leadership may come at an unsustainable environmental cost.
