A court has challenged Google’s $15 billion data centre hub in Visakhapatnam over water use, wildlife and if the project was approved too quickly While environmental groups and activists say the new facility would stretch a water-stressed city and disrupt a nearby sanctuary, Google and the Andhra Pradesh government both say everything is being done legally.
Project under pressure
The project, co-developed with the Adani Group in Andhra Pradesh, is billed as Google’s largest single investment in India. Construction is already under way, according to a report earlier in October by Reuters, but dissent has mounted as activists are taking the dispute from the streets into courts.
Reporting on the controversy, subsequent legal battle includes a public interest litigation in the Andhra Pradesh High Court as well three additional cases at India’s environmental court. The project is entering the next phase urgently, though its first hearing in the high court is set for August 24.
Water concerns
The biggest concern is water. The city of Visakhapatnam currently receives about 410 million litres of water a day, whilst demand is around 480 million litres and critics warn a data centre the size planned will only exacerbate shortages in a city already unable to satisfy its daily needs.
Hyperscale data centres consume a lot of energy and take a large toll on local water systems, activists contend. While Google has said it will utilize state-of-the-art air cooling to minimize its water use, the Andhra Pradesh government has pledged no water intended for residential or rural consumption will be diverted for the project.
Wildlife concerns
Secondly there is the issue of how close the site is to Kambalakonda Wildlife Sanctuary — just 860 metres away. Petitioners argue that heavy construction, traffic and ongoing noise from operations could disrupt animals like leopards and pangolins known to be in the sanctuary.
Google has pledged to comply with laws where applicable and use sound-dampening measures so that it can be a “quiet, unobtrusive neighbour”. State officials, however, have called the activists’ concerns “inaccurate and misleading,” but said they welcome suggestions.
Why it matters
This case ultimately arose not from a single data centre It is about how India reconciles large technology investments with environmental safeguards, local water stress and public accountability.
The project sits at the heart of Google ambitions in India and its AI-infrastructure strategy. Although the facility is meant to be a transformational investment for Andhra Pradesh, it therefore risks being politically and economically sensitive.
Court battle ahead
Now the dispute is moving toward a more formal legal test. Petitions have already been filed, and the high court has scheduled a hearing on the case later this month, which means depending on how the courts respond, the project could face delays or more onerous conditions being imposed.
For now, the war for Google’s India data centre is one of those powerful people vs the planet matches. And the protesters’ main question has not changed — how can a project of this size continue in an area that already struggling to find water?