Google’s biggest bet in India is meeting resistance on the ground. Its $15bn data-centre project in Visakhapatnam has run into mounting opposition over water use and the wildlife living beside it.
The project is enormous by any measure. Built with Gautam Adani’s group, it is one of the largest data-centre investments anywhere, and the state promises it could create up to 188,000 jobs.
Water is the sharpest flashpoint. Visakhapatnam receives about 410 million litres a day against demand of 480 million, so the city of 2.5 million already rations water before a giant new customer arrives.
Residents fear the maths only gets worse. Activists argue that a thirsty data centre will strain reservoirs and deepen shortages, turning a public resource toward cooling servers rather than serving homes.
The state has tried to reassure them. The government has guaranteed the project’s water for 20 years and insists no rural drinking water will be diverted, a promise critics find hard to square with existing scarcity.
