Google says $15 billion Vizag AI hub will be air-cooled as water protests grow

Google has defended its planned $15 billion artificial intelligence data centre hub in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, as local opposition over water, land and jobs grows. In remarks reported on October 11 and 12, 2026, Alexander Smith, Google's head of infrastructure and energy for Asia-Pacific, said the campus would be cooled by air rather than water, a design meant to address fears that the facility would compete with residents for scarce freshwater. The project, which Google has described as its largest investment outside the United States, is being built with partners from the Adani group and Bharti Airtel, and construction has continued despite petitions challenging its environmental approvals.

The Visakhapatnam hub is the most visible test of India's push to host the computing power behind artificial intelligence. Large data centres need two things India has in short supply in many cities: reliable electricity and water. Many designs use water to carry heat away from servers. In a coastal city that already depends on reservoirs and long pipelines for drinking water, that has made water the centre of the debate.

Google's stated switch to air cooling is its main answer. Air-cooled systems use far less water for cooling, though they usually need more electricity, and buildings still need some water for maintenance and other non-cooling uses. That shifts part of the question from water to power: who pays for new lines and substations, and whether the city's homes and small businesses will feel the strain. Google says it will not pass these costs on to local users, a promise residents will be able to judge only once the hub is running.

For corporate India, the project carries large stakes. It brings in a global technology company alongside two of the country's biggest business groups, promises construction and services work for local firms, and supports the state government's plan to turn Visakhapatnam into a data centre and subsea cable hub. The state has repeatedly said the water concerns are overstated. Critics say the jobs a highly automated data centre creates are few compared with the land and resources it uses.

How the dispute is settled will shape other projects. Several states are courting data centre investment with land and power incentives, and the questions raised in Visakhapatnam about water use, clearances and local benefit are likely to follow them.

Short-term: Construction continues while petitions over environmental clearances are pending. Expect more statements from the company and the state government aimed at calming water and power concerns, and continued protests and public meetings by residents.

Long-term: If the hub runs as promised, Visakhapatnam could become a major AI computing centre and a magnet for related industries. If water or power use exceeds what was promised, it could harden opposition to data centres in other Indian cities and push regulators toward stricter rules.

Who is affected: Residents of Visakhapatnam and nearby villages, farmers and landholders near the sites, local contractors and service firms, the Andhra Pradesh government, and Indian businesses that will rely on domestic AI computing capacity.

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