Broken promises, confiscated land: the hyperscale AI data centre being built in a tiny Indian village | Datacentres | The Guardian https://share.google/ao2RpjtblORjS6TON
Hannah and her colleague Aakash Hassan make yet another attempt to mislead the readers of the Guardian with a biased report. Sundar Pichai a Indian origin CEO of Google has signed a deal with the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh to build the biggest Artificial Data Centre. Google is to invest $15 Billion in the project. Known as Vizag Data Centre it will turn India into a digital powerhouse.
Hannah claims that the land for the Data Centre was forcibly taken from the farmers. Governments all over the world have to make compulsory purchases for important projects. Hannah should remember the compulsory purchase of land for the failed HS2 project. People have lost homes even though the project never materialised. In the case of the Data centre Hannah admits that the authorities are paying $40,000 per acre to the farmers which is way above the market price. Hannah contends that there will be heavy environmental costs due to massive use of electricity and water. Google has promised to use an air cooled system instead of water.
Compensation packages and direct bank payouts for farmers giving up their land for this Google-Adani AI Data Centre project in Tarluvada village (Visakhapatnam district) started long ago. Direct bank credit transfers began in late 2025. According to an official statement the package includes 3 cents of residential land for housing per eligible family, a shopping complex allotment and promises for thousands of jobs. 3 cents is roughly 1,306.8 square feet which is equal to a small building plot.
It is true that Google has been granted subsidies and incentives to invest in the Indian state. From decades-long tax breaks and discounted land to access to cheap electricity and water are estimated to amount to $2.3 billion . It is a price worth paying for a nation determined to be a leading world player in the field of AI.
For the Chandrababu government this deal with Google to build this vast data centre is a source of enormous pride. It is part of a wider policy to make the state into India’s most advanced and affluent tech hub. Artificial intelligence is becoming the foundational infrastructure for the global economy, according to Sribharat Mathukumilli, a local MP. ‘Our objective is not simply to host a data centre, but to create an AI and digital ecosystem’, he said.
I do agree that the cutting of 100 acres of trees for the project is unfortunate. I hope chief minister Chandrababu will plant an equal amount of trees to compensate for the ones lost. Status quo is not an option in this fast paced world. Change always brings challenges and opportunities.
Nitin Mehta
28 September 2026
Hannah and her colleague Aakash Hassan make yet another attempt to mislead the readers of the Guardian with a biased report. Sundar Pichai a Indian origin CEO of Google has signed a deal with the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh to build the biggest Artificial Data Centre. Google is to invest $15 Billion in the project. Known as Vizag Data Centre it will turn India into a digital powerhouse.
Hannah claims that the land for the Data Centre was forcibly taken from the farmers. Governments all over the world have to make compulsory purchases for important projects. Hannah should remember the compulsory purchase of land for the failed HS2 project. People have lost homes even though the project never materialised. In the case of the Data centre Hannah admits that the authorities are paying $40,000 per acre to the farmers which is way above the market price. Hannah contends that there will be heavy environmental costs due to massive use of electricity and water. Google has promised to use an air cooled system instead of water.
Compensation packages and direct bank payouts for farmers giving up their land for this Google-Adani AI Data Centre project in Tarluvada village (Visakhapatnam district) started long ago. Direct bank credit transfers began in late 2025. According to an official statement the package includes 3 cents of residential land for housing per eligible family, a shopping complex allotment and promises for thousands of jobs. 3 cents is roughly 1,306.8 square feet which is equal to a small building plot.
It is true that Google has been granted subsidies and incentives to invest in the Indian state. From decades-long tax breaks and discounted land to access to cheap electricity and water are estimated to amount to $2.3 billion . It is a price worth paying for a nation determined to be a leading world player in the field of AI.
For the Chandrababu government this deal with Google to build this vast data centre is a source of enormous pride. It is part of a wider policy to make the state into India’s most advanced and affluent tech hub. Artificial intelligence is becoming the foundational infrastructure for the global economy, according to Sribharat Mathukumilli, a local MP. ‘Our objective is not simply to host a data centre, but to create an AI and digital ecosystem’, he said.
I do agree that the cutting of 100 acres of trees for the project is unfortunate. I hope chief minister Chandrababu will plant an equal amount of trees to compensate for the ones lost. Status quo is not an option in this fast paced world. Change always brings challenges and opportunities.
Nitin Mehta
28 September 2026
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