India’s data centers strain energy, water and urban heat systems

Kareena Jaisinghani, Senior Analyst at the Climate and Sustainability Initiative (CSI), calls for stronger policy and operational measures to manage the environmental footprint of India’s data-center expansion.

• Main announcement/action: Kareena Jaisinghani urges mandatory PUE disclosure and benchmarking, binding rules for renewable-energy use, energy efficiency, and water limits for private data-center operators; she highlights concrete figures—13 TWh (2024) rising to 57 TWh (2030) electricity use and 150 billion litres (2025) rising to 359 billion litres (2030) water consumption—and cites the INR 20,000 crore allocation in the 2025–26 Union Budget under the Nuclear Energy Mission to bring at least five SMRs online by 2033 as a possible firm-power solution.
• Background/details: The piece documents geography and siting concerns in Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru (including Devanahalli groundwater over-extraction), references Meta’s Odense campus heat-reuse example (165,000 MWh/year), notes incentives such as infrastructure status since 2022 and tax holidays until 2047, and recommends policy levers like linking siting approvals to renewable procurement, water-recycling standards, and land-use frameworks.