India’s data centre boom: Powering the AI future or straining resources?

The viral Ghibli-style AI portrait trend on ChatGPT looked like harmless fun — but it revealed something much bigger about the massive infrastructure powering artificial intelligence. From “melting GPUs” to energy-hungry data centres, AI demand is pushing computing resources to the limit. As India bets big on building data centres and AI infrastructure, the country faces a key question: will this fuel its digital future, or strain its power and water resources? Here’s a deep dive into India’s growing AI data centre boom and the challenges that come with it.