Big subsidies for Google, limited water for locals in India

The government of India is providing a large subsidy and facility to foreign technology companies around the expansion of artificial intelligence data centres in the country.

Meanwhile, locals in the areas are concerned about water crisis, loss of agricultural land, and environmental issues created from the expansion, said a report of the Wall Street Journal.

When US technology multinational Google launched its AI data center project in the Indian coastal city of Visakhapatnam last year, the Andhra Pradesh government welcomed the company with billions of dollars in incentives.

According to the WSJ, such AI data centers use a large amount of water to keep the servers cool, which is causing concern in a country where groundwater levels are rapidly falling down.

According to the report, many farmers of Visakhapatnam have been forced to give up their many years of cultivation. A local resident said, “How can we be happy with Google coming? We will all be dispersed.”

The nearly $15 billion project is alleged to evict many families. While compensation is given to the victims, many fear that in the long run the AI data centers will destroy their livelihood and agricultural dependency.

Andhra Pradesh government is offering Google a 25 per cent discount on water use for 10 years, 25 per cent off on land, subsidies on power infrastructure development, tax relief and electricity costs.

The WSJ also noted that data center projects in developed countries have already faced criticism for the use of the environmental resources, and now similar debates are spreading to other developing countries, including India.

According to analysts, the long-term impact of such projects in developing countries could be even more serious due to poor infrastructure and water shortages.

On the other hand, Google said it is working towards a goal of recovering more fresh water globally than it uses by 2030, which includes restoring water bodies and developing agricultural technologies.