# Power before bytes

> States must match data centre growth with power, water and land resources.
- Title: Power before bytes · Financialexpress | Shortify
- Summary: States must match data centre growth with power, water and land resources. India's data centre expansion requires balancing AI ambitions with power, water…
- Keywords: india, data centre, power, water, land, renewable energy, cloud computing, business, money, news, bytes, Financialexpress
- Source: Financialexpress — https://financialexpress.com/opinion/power-before-bytes/4367325
- Author: The Financial Express
- Published: 2026-10-22T16:58:32+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: india, data centre, ai, power, water, land, renewable energy, cloud computing, business, money, news
## India's AI data centre push
India aims to become a global hub for AI and cloud computing through data centre investments.
## Major investments
Google committed $15 billion to an AI hub in Visakhapatnam, Reliance Industries partnered with Meta on a 168-megawatt facility in Jamnagar, and Tata Consultancy Services announced a $7-billion data centre plan.
## Data centre resource needs
Data centres require large land tracts, uninterrupted electricity, and substantial cooling infrastructure unlike conventional factories.
## Power demands
A proposed Amazon Web Services facility in Thane requires 422 megawatts of power, illustrating the scale of demand for single projects.
## Water challenges
Data centres generate heat and consume significant water, a concern in regions facing seasonal shortages.
## Solutions and constraints
Air cooling, closed-loop systems, and treated wastewater can reduce freshwater use but depend on facility design and local conditions.
## Balancing act
States need coordinated frameworks to map power, water, land and grid constraints for sustainable data centre growth.
## Key takeaway

India's data centre expansion requires balancing AI ambitions with power, water and land constraints to avoid resource shortages.