Google says its “gigawatt-scale” AI data centre in Visakhapatnam, in India’s Andhra Pradesh state, will use air cooling rather than water, after residents objected to its effect on an area already short of water. The statements come from Alexander Smith, Google’s head of infrastructure and energy for the Asia-Pacific region, in answers to AFP published on 11 October 2026 [1][2].
Reported (a Google executive’s statements to AFP). They are company claims, and TSN has not checked them.
What Google says
Smith said Google’s water assessment for Visakhapatnam “pointed to pressure on the local watershed”. “That finding shaped our choice of cooling configuration from the outset,” he said, with “advanced air cooling” chosen instead of water cooling [1].
He also said:
- Google “fully funds the cost of required power infrastructure upgrades” [1].
- “For the freshwater consumed by non-cooling facility needs, Google is committed to replenishing 120 percent of the volume we consume across our operations by 2030.” That covers non-cooling water across Google, not this site’s cooling [1].
- Smith said “a development of this kind is projected to generate approximately $688 million in local economic activity every year”. That describes developments like this one, not clearly a calculation for this site [1].
AFP describes the site as part of a $15 billion investment, set to be operational in 2028 and Google’s biggest “AI hub” outside the United States. It says activists want a moratorium, a pause on approvals, on new data centres across Andhra Pradesh until there is more evidence of their effect on the environment and local community [1].
Why water and air matter
This part is general background from TSN, not Google’s claim. Servers turn almost all the electricity they use into heat. Many data centres remove it by evaporating water, which works well but uses up that water. Air cooling avoids the evaporation, but in general it needs more electricity and works less well in hot weather. So the choice can move the strain from the water supply towards the power supply. Which trade-off applies here has not been published.
What is not known
- What “advanced air cooling” means. AFP names no design or equipment.
- Actual water use. Google gave AFP no figure. Smith told the Hindustan Times in August that water would be limited “largely to non-cooling uses such as restrooms” [3]. “Air-cooled” does not mean no water at all.
- Power use. Google does not disclose site-level power figures [1].
- The $688 million. No method is given, and TSN found no independent check.
- The activists. AFP does not name them.
Sources
- AFP, “Power, water, jobs: Google on India data centre concerns”, afp.com, 11 October 2026 (Smith’s answers to AFP; read in full). https://www.afp.com/en/power-water-jobs-google-india-data-centre-concerns
- AFP, “Google says India data center will use air cooling amid water fears”, Kuwait Times, 11 October 2026 (shorter AFP version; its 120 percent sentence omits “non-cooling”). https://kuwaittimes.com/article/51362/world/google-says-india-data-center-will-use-air-cooling-amid-water-fears/
- Srinivasa Rao Apparasu, “Google says Vizag AI hub to limit water use amid concerns over geological impact”, Hindustan Times, 31 August 2026 (Smith’s earlier interview with HT). https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/google-defends-vizag-ai-hub-amid-environment-concerns-101788117379074.html
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