As Prime Minister Narendra Modi marks his 13th address to the nation on Independence Day on Saturday, data centres and the rise of artificial intelligence found a mention in his speech.
Speaking from the Red Fort in New Delhi, the prime minister said: “Whether we talk about semiconductors or critical minerals, as we move towards the technologies of the future — and as the world moves in that direction — the importance of energy will continue to grow. It will be difficult to run the new world without energy. And therefore, whether it is chips, AI or data centres, we will need enormous amounts of electricity.”
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These remarks come as part of India's push for energy security. The prime minister also higlighted the AI Summit in New Delhi held earlier this year and stated that the country aims to extend AI skill training to at least one crore youths in India.
India's push towards AI, data centres
As per the ministry of electronics and information technology, data centres have been located in areas such as Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Delhi NCR and Jamnagar.
{{/usCountry}}As per the ministry of electronics and information technology, data centres have been located in areas such as Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Delhi NCR and Jamnagar.
{{/usCountry}}"The installed capacity has grown from 375 MW in 2020 to the current capacity of about 1575 MW," the ministry noted, adding that the industry will be expanded to states such as Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and West Bengal.
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PM Modi's remarks o Saturday come amid protests in Maharashtra's Thane and Andhra Pradesh's Visakhapatnam against the construction of data centres.
Thane, Vizag protest against data centres
Resistance to artificial intelligence and the construction of data centres, which has already halted several projects in North America and Europe, has now found its way to India.
Residents in Thane and Visakhapatnam have launched widespread protests against large data centres, arguing that the projects could put additional pressure on land, electricity and water.
In Thane, the 'Wake Up Thanekar' protest is against Amazon’s hyperscale facility, spread across about 53-58 acres at Balkum and Majiwada.
"Half of Thane is living on tanker water. Why have the data centre in a residential area and put all the citizens in trouble?” Sadhana Pradhan, one of the residents leading the Wake Up Thanekar campaign, told HT.
Meanwhile, in Vizag, citizen groups are opposing a proposed Google-Adani hyperscale AI data centre complex.
The 1-GW cluster will be split across three sites, and is expected to cover about 200 acres at Tarluvada, 120 acres across Adavivaram-Mudasarlova, and 160 acres at Rambilli in Anakapalli district.
The protest in the Andhra city is based on concerns over the project's likely consumption of water and electricity, particularly as parts of Visakhapatnam are already facing issues with water supply and shortage.
As per activists, the proposed sites for the data centre are located in areas connected to the catchments of important reservoirs and within the broader ecological zone around the Kambalakonda Wildlife Sanctuary.
While the construction has already impacted local ecology, it is expected to add more stress to the ongoing water problem.