India’s digital revolution is often portrayed as clean, futuristic and almost weightless. Artificial intelligence, cloud computing and digital services appear to exist in an invisible world. Yet behind this image stands an enormous physical infrastructure of warehouses packed with servers, cooling systems, power stations and transmission lines.

Local communities across the United States, Europe and Southeast Asia have now begun resisting new data centre projects. Residents are protesting what they describe as the industry’s ‘rapacious need for water, electricity and land’. However, India is moving rapidly toward becoming one of the world’s largest data centre hubs, raising an uncomfortable question: can digital ambitions coexist with ecological realities?

Driven by rising demand for artificial intelligence and cloud services, India’s data centre capacity is expected to expand dramatically, rising from ~1.4 gigawatts in 2025 to ~17 gigawatts by 2030.

Central and state governments have rolled out incentives to attract global technology giants such as Google, Amazon and Microsoft. These include long tax holidays, exemptions from electricity duties, concessional land allotments and subsidies on water and infrastructure, and in some cases, relaxation of environmental safeguards. Reports surrounding Google’s proposed facility in Andhra Pradesh suggest that environmental impact assessment requirements were diluted or waived.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly described data centres as major employment generators, inviting “the whole world’s data to reside in India”. However, critics point out how this is an overstated promise. Once operational, hyperscale data centres usually require a small workforce consisting mainly of technicians, engineers and maintenance staff. Compared to manufacturing industries, they generate limited long-term employment despite occupying vast tracts of land and consuming enormous quantities of........

© National Herald