An evaluation framework jointly developed by the NITI Aayog and Deloitte India calls for data centre approvals to be linked to verified availability of electricity, water and other infrastructure, while requiring States to assess the projects’ economic benefits against the public support they receive.
Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu are in the lead, while Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh have announced ambitious investment and capacity targets. States are competing to attract investments. Andhra Pradesh seeks to develop Visakhapatnam into a major artificial intelligence infrastructure hub. Odisha, Telangana and Madhya Pradesh are also pursuing data centre investments. However, the expansion in data centres has triggered local opposition over the water, electricity and land the data centres will require. In Maharashtra’ Thane, residents protested against a proposed Amazon data centre, citing concerns over resource use and the facility’s proximity to homes, schools and hospitals.
In Andhra Pradesh, Google’s proposed $15-billion data centre project near Visakhapatnam has faced objections over use of water resources and ecological concerns.
The document, made public on Wednesday (October 14, 2026), comes amid the rapid expansion of India’s data centre industry. India had 271 data centres as of January 2026, according to a February report by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW). The installed capacity of these data centres stood at about 1.57 gigawatts (GW) in August 2026, according to the Union government. Industry estimates project that such capacity could reach 4.5-6.5 GW by 2030. India’s data centres consumed approximately 13 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity as of 2024, equivalent to about 0.8% of India’s total electricity demand. Consumption is projected to rise nearly fivefold to 57 TWh by 2030, or about 2.6% of demand, according to the CEEW.
