Today’s headlines are dominated by the announcement of a massive Google data center to be established in Visakhapatnam, with plans to transform the city into a major AI hub.
However, key questions remain about how many jobs this project will actually generate and how much the local population will benefit.
The state government has offered Google Raiden generous incentives, including 500 acres of land, 100% stamp duty exemption, tax breaks on plant and machinery costs, GST exemptions on construction expenses worth ₹2,245 crore, GST waivers on lease payments for five years, and a 25% rebate on water charges for ten years. In total, these incentives amount to nearly ₹22,000 crore.
The proposed data center is expected to consume around 24 million units of electricity per day. AI data centers also require massive amounts of water for cooling and operations.
A key question now is: What does a 25% rebate on water supply mean in practice? Will the state be obligated to provide fresh water for cooling the AI systems?
In a region already facing water scarcity, this could place severe pressure on local resources. If the state turns to desalination of seawater to meet these demands, costs will skyrocket — and the financial burden is likely to fall on the government.
Desalination is an expensive and energy-intensive process, making the project less attractive to investors if the state doesn’t absorb these expenses. These issues need to be clarified to ensure public transparency and accountability.
Without adequate job creation, skill development, and local participation, the project risks becoming a one-sided venture that benefits the company more than the state or its citizens.
One local resident wrote online, “As a Vizagite, I have mixed feelings. Though the direct employment may be small, it could attract other MNCs. But the major concern is water scarcity. Vizag is a semi-arid region, and reservoirs barely support the city during peak summers. Groundwater levels have already plummeted. The electricity bill will eventually be passed on to the public, who won’t get any direct benefit from Google. This data center could create problems similar to Elon Musk’s xAI center in Georgia.”
Former IT Minister Gudivada Amarnath has also raised similar concerns, stressing that to justify such massive incentives, at least 20,000 local jobs should be created.
