The article explains that as artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure expands rapidly in India, its supporting data centres are consuming significant amounts of electricity and water, raising questions about the long-term sustainability of the push to become a global AI hub. These facilities — which power the training and deployment of large AI models — are much more resource-intensive than traditional IT workloads, meaning every AI query ultimately relies on physical infrastructure with real environmental costs.
According to estimates from the International Energy Agency (IEA), a typical AI-oriented data centre can consume as much electricity as 100,000 households, and the largest centres under construction could use 20 times that amount. While global data-centre electricity consumption was about 1.5 % of total power use in 2024, it’s expected to nearly double by 2030, which would be a huge new demand on power systems already under pressure in fast-growing economies like India.
India’s data-centre capacity has tripled since 2020, and capacity is expected to grow further as AI and cloud computing investments balloon — with reports suggesting more than $100 billion in commitments by 2027. This growth comes at a time when national electricity grids are still managing rising demand from industry, households and electrification, meaning an influx of energy-hungry AI infrastructure could intensify stress on power supply unless matched with investment in generation and transmission.
Moreover, data centres rely heavily on water-intensive cooling systems to keep servers from overheating, which can put additional pressure on local water resources — a concern in regions already facing scarcity issues. Observers warn that without careful planning and renewable energy integration, the boom in AI infrastructure could deepen environmental and resource constraints, underscoring the need for sustainable power solutions and efficient cooling technologies as part of India’s AI growth strategy.
