VIJAYAWADA: Minister for Human Resources Development, IT and Electronics Nara Lokesh on Wednesday dismissed the misinformation campaign surrounding proposed data centres in Visakhapatnam, asserting that the State has successfully achieved its target of securing 6.5 gigawatts (GW) of data center capacity without compromising environmental safeguards or municipal resources.
Replying to a query raised by Jana Sena MLA Lokam Naga Madhavi in the Assembly regarding water security, power demand, and ecological impact, he labelled the opposition to data centres as politically motivated and baseless.
Drawing a historical parallel, he recalled that similar skepticism greeted IT initiatives when Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu promoted computerisation in the 1990s, noting that staying the course ultimately transformed Hyderabad into a global technology hub.
Addressing core concerns, he outlined key policy and operational safeguards for the data centre initiative, beginning with the development of sovereign AI infrastructure. Highlighting sovereign AI as a vital driver for the initiative, he noted that the rapid national expansion of artificial intelligence makes domestic digital infrastructure a strategic necessity.
As AI becomes deeply embedded across everyday smartphones, operating systems, and enterprise tools, immense volumes of sensitive data are generated daily. Storing and processing this data on domestic soil is vital to ensure data security and insulate India’s digital economy from shifting geopolitical dynamics, he said.
‘Water supply to Vizag will remain untouched’
Anchor investments—led by Google’s hyperscale footprint—are driving localised data sovereignty while positioning Visakhapatnam to transform into a premier global technology destination (“AI-Patnam”).
On the critical issue of water usage, Lokesh reassured the Assembly that residential water supplies in Visakhapatnam will remain untouched. The estimated 3 TMC of water required for the 6.5 GW capacity will be drawn strictly from industrial allocations via dedicated gravity pipelines from the Polavaram project within the next 18 months.
Modern air-cooling techniques and a planned 100 MLD desalination plant will further optimise usage.
Putting the metrics into perspective, he noted that a 1 GW thermal power plant consumes nearly 10 times more water annually than a data centre of similar capacity.
Regarding energy sustainability, data centre operators are required to source at least 70 per cent of their power from clean energy—such as solar, wind, and pumped storage—via the ‘One Nation, One Grid’ infrastructure.
Power tariffs will not be increased for domestic consumers, building on the 13-paise tariff reduction implemented this year.
Finally, Lokesh highlighted the broader economic and job ecosystem created by these investments.
Beyond direct facility roles, the ecosystem will generate widespread employment across ancillary sectors, including advanced chip manufacturing, power electronics, subsea cable landing stations, logistics, transformer manufacturing, and real estate.
In Rayalaseema alone, the emerging cooling hardware ecosystem is projected to create 20,000 jobs, complemented by a Rs 1,000 crore logistics investment tied to Google’s operations. Lokesh urged the public not to be misled by false propaganda on Data Centres.
