India Develops National Policy to Regulate Data Center Resources
The Indian government is creating a national policy to prevent data centers from competing with residents for water and electricity supplies.
The Government of India is developing a national policy for data centers to manage the high consumption of water and electricity. Junior Minister Jitin Prasada announced the initiative on October 14 to ensure that large-scale digital infrastructure does not compete with residential consumers for essential power supplies.
The policy follows growing public backlash and activist demands to cancel permissions for major projects. These include a $15 billion Google project in Visakhapatnam and an Amazon facility near Mumbai. In response to the criticism, Amazon.com Inc. stated it does not use water for cooling and does not draw electricity from the local distribution networks that serve homes and businesses.
To implement these changes, the government think tank Niti Aayog provided a framework for local governments to evaluate future projects based on sustainability and grid readiness. This shift marks a transition in the national strategy from simply attracting investment to balancing industrial growth with environmental safeguards and infrastructure capacity.
