Google’s planned India data center draws environmental opposition

Google plans to build a data center in Visakhapatnam, a city on India’s southeastern coast, to support its artificial intelligence systems.

The facility is expected to have one gigawatt of capacity, and the company has pledged about $15 billion for the project.

The city is a landing point for submarine internet cables linking India with Singapore, making it attractive for data centers.

Residents and environmental groups worry about the project’s effects on water and energy supplies, and whether it will create as many jobs as promised.

Some planned sites are near a nature reserve and an important underground water source, and residents have taken the matter to court.

Google says it will use air cooling rather than water to cool its systems, while environmentalists are seeking a construction pause and independent assessments.

The project is part of a wider wave of data center investment in the area, including a separate $11 billion project backed by Digital Realty, Reliance Industries and Brookfield.