Water shortages in Indian regions

Residents in several areas of India, including Greater Noida and Khoda, are facing water shortages as data centers expand. Reports indicate that over 7,000 people in Greater Noida have experienced repeated water outages in the past month, while in Khoda, nearly 45,000 households still lack access to running water as of mid-2026.

Water scarcity in Khoda

In Khoda, families rely on underground pumps or purchase water for daily needs, as wells now need to reach depths of up to 366 meters to find water. Residents described the situation as increasingly severe, with some neighborhoods requiring extensive digging to access water sources.

Water issues in Noida

Last month, residents in several areas of Noida reported low water pressure, outages, and sometimes contaminated water. In one residential complex with 350 families, yellowish, smelly, and worm-infested water was reported, highlighting the worsening water quality in the region.

Impact of Ganges canal closure

From October 21 to November 25, the annual maintenance closure of the upper Ganges canal could disrupt the water supply for nearly 2 million people in certain areas. This adds to the existing water tension in the region, where data centers are being established at a rapid pace.

Uttar Pradesh's digital ambitions

Uttar Pradesh aims to become a major digital hub, targeting more than 2,000 megawatts of additional data center capacity and 2,000 billion rupees in investments. Local policies provide land, tax incentives, and guaranteed water supply to support this growth.

Water use in data centers

Data centers require significant amounts of water to cool their equipment, using thousands of servers that generate a lot of heat. While some facilities use air or closed-loop systems to reduce water use, many still rely on water as a primary cooling resource.

India's growing data center sector

India’s data center sector currently consumes about 150 billion liters of water per year, and this is expected to rise to nearly 359 billion liters by 2030. More than half of these installations are located in areas already facing water stress.

Investments and tax incentives

India has granted tax exemptions to foreign companies offering cloud computing services from data centers on its territory, with the exemption set to last until 2047. Companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft are investing over 50 billion dollars in the sector, expecting the market to grow four times larger by 2029.

Water pressure in Visakhapatnam

In Visakhapatnam, Google is preparing a 15 billion dollar data center project, despite the city’s daily water supply of 410 million liters falling short of the 480 million liters demanded. Local groups have raised concerns about the strain on water resources and natural spaces.

Policy recommendations

NITI Aayog, the Indian government’s policy advisory body, has recommended that water and electricity availability be considered when evaluating new data centers. It also urged companies to demonstrate that local infrastructure can support their needs.