India Expands Data Centers Amid Water Stress

India’s rapid expansion of its data center infrastructure is increasingly intersecting with a critical environmental challenge, as more than half of the country’s existing facilities are located in regions already classified as water-stressed. The construction boom reflects surging domestic demand for cloud computing, digital services, and artificial intelligence, positioning India as a growing hub in the global technology sector. However, the geographic concentration of these resource-intensive facilities in arid and semi-arid zones has drawn attention to the tension between technological development and ecological sustainability.

Data centers require substantial water volumes primarily for cooling servers and maintaining stable operating temperatures, with large-scale facilities consuming millions of liters daily. As India accelerates infrastructure development to attract foreign investment and support its digital economy, developers have gravitated toward established