Misinformation being spread over Vizag data centres' water needs: Minister

Andhra Pradesh IT Minister Nara Lokesh on Wednesday defended the state government's decision to establish data centres in Visakhapatnam, and said deliberate misinformation was being spread over their environmental and water requirements.

Addressing the Assembly, the IT Minister said Google's decision to invest in Visakhapatnam had triggered wider interest from other IT companies in the city.

"Deliberate misinformation was being spread over their (data centres) environmental and water requirements," said Lokesh, replying to a question.

Lokesh said data centres are critical to the AI-driven digital economy and India's data sovereignty, particularly amid emerging geo-political challenges.

He explained that once the proposed data-centre ecosystem reaches the targeted 6.5 GW capacity, it is estimated to require around 3 TMC (thousand million cubic ft) of water annually based on current technology.

However, he stressed that newer cooling technologies are expected to reduce water consumption further.

Lokesh said water for data centres would come from the industrial allocation of Polavaram Project water, without diverting water meant for the port city's residents.

He noted that the government is committed to supplying Visakhapatnam's urban water requirements through Polavaram Project with gravity-based supply expected within 18 months.

Dedicated pipelines would be provided for data centres, he said.

Comparing water consumption, Lokesh said a 1 GW thermal power plant consumes nearly 10 times more water annually than a data centre, questioning why protests over water usage were focused only on data centres.

According to Lokesh, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had set a clear ceiling of 6.5 GW for data-centre allocations, and declared that the target has now been fully achieved.

He said the government would prioritise companies that demonstrate strong environmental responsibility.