Guardian Finds Google’s India AI Project Cleared for 2.51GW, Versus Announced 1GW

Google publicly announced a 1-gigawatt AI data center project in India. State environmental clearances permit it to reach 2.51 gigawatts, a Guardian investigation found. That difference has emerged as residents contest the project’s land arrangements and petitioners challenge an approval process completed without public consultation.

Two measures of the same project

The $15 billion development spans three planned data center sites around Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. Google is working with the Adani Group on the project. Asked about its scale, Google described it to the Guardian as a “gigawatt scale AI hub” but did not specify a capacity in that response. The 2.51-gigawatt figure is what the clearances allow, not capacity already built.

Capacity sets the scale of power the campus could demand. Google has pledged to help generate new clean energy for the hub. Activists worry about the environmental cost of meeting its electricity needs in a country where, according to the Guardian, coal supplies 75% of grid electricity. That national figure does not establish how the finished project will be powered.

Approval without a public hearing

Andhra Pradesh issued the environmental clearances in nine days, without public consultation, the Guardian found. Three petitions filed with India’s National Green Tribunal challenge the approvals. A separate public-interest case has been filed in the Andhra Pradesh high court. The tribunal petitioners allege that the assessment of environmental and water-supply risks was inadequate and misleading; those are allegations, not court findings.

More than 100 acres of forest clearing are required for the project, according to the Guardian; the full area has not been reported as cleared. Another site is near a reserve forest, a drinking-water reservoir and a wildlife sanctuary. Google says the data centers will use air cooling, not water cooling, and will not affect local drinking-water supplies. The Adani Group says it obtained the necessary legal approvals.

A promise of jobs, a loss of farmland

In Tarluvada, residents describe costs that differ from the state’s account. According to the Guardian, T Applaraju is among 520 local families whose previously allocated land was taken back for the development. He said guards blocked families from plots they had farmed for years. Farmer P Venkat Rao said he received $40,000 for his acre, but a promised replacement plot and a job for his family had not materialized.

The state government denies that land was forcibly taken and says eligible residents received generous compensation. Google says it has engaged deeply with local communities and expects the project to generate thousands of jobs around Visakhapatnam.

The state’s bargain

State officials see the campus as part of a push to build an AI and digital economy. Incentives for Google, including tax breaks and discounted land, are estimated at 220 billion rupees over 20 years. That is a projected public commitment, not spending to date.