"Protests in Visakhapatnam, Thane against mega data centres over water, public resources; Amazon, Google respond", 10 August 2026

AI data centre projects in India, backed by Google-Adani and Amazon, have started facing scrutiny from residents over their environmental and social costs.

India’s ambition to become an artificial intelligence (AI) powerhouse is beginning to face the kind of local resistance that has slowed data centre projects in parts of Europe and North America. In Thane and Visakhapatnam, residents have launched what are among the country’s first organised protests against large data centres, arguing that the projects could put additional pressure on land, electricity and water…

… In Thane, the data centre facing protests is Amazon’s hyperscale facility, spread across about 53-58 acres at Balkum and Majiwada…

The campaign began after residents learnt that data centres are classified as essential services, raising concerns that they could receive priority access to water and electricity during shortages…

… However, residents are also concerned about heat generated by cooling systems, noise from equipment, pressure on the local power network and the cumulative impact of locating a massive data centre next to homes, schools and hospitals.

… In its response, Amazon said its data centre development in Thane would not use water for cooling. “In fact, we do not currently use water for cooling in any of our data centres in India, and do not draw from the community’s drinking or potable water for cooling purposes. The approved water supply permit for the Thane data centre is 0.01 MLD and is strictly for basic human needs, including restrooms and drinking water for Amazon employees.”…

Nearly 800 km away, a similar campaign is taking shape in Visakhapatnam, where several citizen groups are opposing a proposed Google-Adani hyperscale AI data centre complex…

Activists say the projects raise several of the concerns voiced in Thane, while also creating additional worries over land acquisition and environmental clearances. Over 100 people took part in a stir against the project on July 19 .

… According to the protesters, water for the projects would be sourced from the Polavaram project or through desalination, which they said would be unsuitable for a city that is already water-stressed…

… Google said environmental audits had informed facility design choices and that it had prepared responses to protesters’ issues.

“We commissioned thorough, independent environmental audits during the project planning process—including ecological, watershed, and acoustic assessments. Based on these findings, safeguards—such as natural drainage preservation, erosion and runoff control, noise mitigation barriers, and shielded lighting—are fully integrated into construction processes. These findings also inform facility design choices, including our decision to utilise advanced air cooling to protect vital local water resources and invest in sound-dampening fans in buildings, paired with property setbacks and landscaping buffers, to ensure we are a quiet, unobtrusive neighbour,” said Alexander Smith, principal, global infrastructure and energy, Asia Pacific, Google…