Google faces backlash against Indian data centre

Opposition has grown against Google's planned AI data centre in India's Andhra Pradesh state. Protesters argue the US$15 billion project will strain water and power resources, damage the environment, and bring few jobs.

Farmers, like Chandala Sadamma, fear losing their land to the 600-acre site. She received over $82,000 for her two-acre plot but feels betrayed. The 50-year-old says the company showed no respect in taking her land.

Vizag, a port city, is ideal for the data centre due to its location on submarine internet cables linking India to Singapore. Google assures the site will improve communities, but activists demand a moratorium until independent environmental and social impact assessments are published.

The government says it will provide new housing to those displaced and build six 1.2-gigawatt nuclear power plants to meet rising energy demand. However, water scarcity and land price hikes have residents worried.

India is investing heavily in data centres, with Andhra Pradesh alone seeing US$175 billion in investment deals. Despite its high internet usage, the nation only has about three percent of global data centre capacity. The government insists that residential needs will always come first, but opposition remains strong against the Google project.