Vizag data centre is a major challenge

TThe Google Cloud India Artificial Intelligence Center, which the tech giant Andhra Pradesh recently laid the foundation stone for in Visakhapatnam, is a sign that India is finally moving from providing information technology services and coding to owning infrastructure. While the facility is part of a larger digital infrastructure drive in Visakhapatnam, expected to involve investments of up to ₹1.25 lakh crore, there are also plenty of second-order gains. The facility could strengthen downstream demand for high-end computing hardware by boosting India’s efforts to build semiconductor capacity under Production Linked Incentive (PLI) programs, even if the sustainability of production still depends on broader ecosystem factors.

The project has been integrated into the America-India Connectivity initiative, under which multiple international subsea cables will land in Visakhapatnam, creating the second major gateway on the east coast of India. As a result, Indian data will have a direct connection from the east coast to South Africa and from there to the US, without first being sent back to Cochin over Google’s high-capacity cables. Similarly, data from Visakhapatnam in the east can now reach the US via Singapore and Australia, not limited to the Chennai-Singapore link, and then to the US via third-party cables. As a result, India’s dependence on geopolitical stability in the Red Sea, through which cables from Mumbai pass before reaching Europe, will decrease. Similarly, in India, the Hub’s location could potentially redistribute growth by moving high-value technological activities away from expensive metropolitan cities.

infrastructure problem

The hub is an integrated complex with computing infrastructure, high-capacity data link and large power requirements. Its expected power demand of 1 GW makes it a hyperscale hub capable of running powerful artificial intelligence (AI) models.

But it is also a gateway to considering the considerable challenges the project poses. For example, the Center could attract firms that handle sensitive data, especially in sectors where legal or regulatory preferences favor keeping the data in India. However, while Google will thus reduce costs for Indian companies, it will also increase dependence on a single foreign provider’s proprietary stack. As a result, India could become the site of “sovereign AI” in name only, as Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian has said.

Second, although AI GPU workloads are among the most power-hungry uses of the world’s computing infrastructure, Hub argues that AI is now an infrastructure problem: power, land, and water are the bottlenecks. Power demand can strain the local grid and cause knock-on effects for local residents and industries. While Google has committed to using 100% renewable energy, the Center will continue to have a fleet of backup diesel generators, which will impact local air quality and microclimate.

If Google aims to maintain a global average power usage efficiency of 1.1 in Visakhapatnam’s humid weather, it may need evaporative cooling, which is water-intensive. The district is periodically sensitive to water stress, especially during the summer months. Meeting their needs largely depends on inter-basin water transfers. In fact, it has the lowest groundwater levels for domestic, agricultural or industrial use in the state, according to the Water Resources and Information Management System. Facilities similar to the Hub worldwide are known to consume more than 2 million liters of energy per day per 100 MW. The stated demand at 1 GW is an eye-watering 20 million liters per day.

Rights groups alleged that the State government assigned the project to a category that allowed it to avoid a full environmental impact assessment and public hearings; these are the measures that forced Google and others to implement this project. and redesigning data centers in other countries to be more sustainable. India is still struggling to align incentives at the State level. Andhra Pradesh offers aggressive tax holidays and energy subsidies, but these do not come with environmental benchmarks or ‘green’ capacity targets. A centralized single window can standardize public hearings and resource accounting. If India does not legalize these measures, its rise on the digital platform will undermine its environmental and democratic foundations.