Karnataka’s drive to green data centres

Karnataka’s new Sustainable Data Centre Policy 2026–2031 targets to attain a cumulative data centre capacity of 1 GW (1,000 MW) by 2031 and incentivises adoption of renewable energy and treated water

Updated - October 02, 2026 12:25 pm IST - Bengaluru

For four-year-old Johan Arun, who lives in Electronics City, the most recognisable vehicle is a water tanker. Every day, as the vehicle pulls up, Johan alerts the family by announcing the arrival of “tank water”, says his mother.

The apartment, where Johan and his family live, is yet to receive Cauvery water connection, like many others in the area. Tankers running up and down the roads is a familiar sight in this part of the town.

Not far from here, Lakshmamma (name changed) runs a small tea shop. A native of Haveri, she migrated to Bengaluru 22 years ago. She has fond memories of the days when water was available 24x7. “Not the case anymore,” she says. As she speaks, a large water tanker pulls up, parks along the kerb and starts pumping water into the enormous facility near the tea shop. A large compound wall with barbed wires on it stands between the imposing building and the pavement.

Lakshmamma explains who the tall neighbour that towers over her small shop is. “It is a data centre. Came up around six years ago. It seems to need a lot of water. Daily, around 20 such tankers arrive there,” she adds.

At least five data centres are located in Electronics City currently, as per the government records, with a combined capacity of more than 23 MW. According to government data, there are 32 data centres in Karnataka, most of them located in and around Bengaluru. Major clusters include Electronics City, Whitefield, and Devanahalli. Together, they power Karnataka’s AI dreams.

Across the world, however, data centres have been in the eye of the storm, as locals protest against their environmental impact and governments rethink their policies.

In India, the Karnataka government recently introduced a Sustainable Data Centre Policy, with the aim of establishing a globally competitive, sustainable, and well-connected data centre ecosystem in the State.

Specialised buildings that house servers, data centres earlier powered everyday online services such as websites, emails, instant messaging, and so on. Things started changing drastically as AI entered the picture. The specialised chips or GPUs used for training or running large AI models consume a lot more electricity.

“A traditional, smaller-scale data centre, used for web and standard IT applications, typically requires about 5 to 10 kW per rack. For an AI hyperscale data centre, the numbers can be 30 to 100 kW per rack,” explains Rishika Ranga, senior associate in the Energy & Power team at CSTEP.

More power generates more heat. Cooling systems that prevent computers from overheating can consume large quantities of water when they rely on water-based cooling. On top of this, electricity and water may be required for other functions such as lighting, power backup, security, cleaning and maintenance, and so on. Other impacts of data centres extend to potential noise pollution due to the whirring of machines, localised heat islands and so on.

Of the 32 data centres, one is located in Mangaluru, one in Bidadi and the rest in Bengaluru. Official data pegs the combined capacity of 18 of these at 292.27 MW. There is no government data on the capacity of the remaining 14; Estimates, however, suggest the total installed capacity of all the data centres in the State at around 400 MW.

Water consumption of only 12 out of the 32 data centres in Bengaluru are currently available with BWSSB. The rest potentially rely on alternate sources of water like private tankers.

According to BWSSB records, majority of the 12 have adopted air-cooled and dry-cooling architecture, which helps to keep water demand lower than water cooling infrastructure. The 12 data centres combined are estimated to consume up to 1,964 KLD or 1.964 million litres per day of water at peak capacity. This is equivalent to the daily water demand of around 3,600 households of four people.

In March 2026, acknowledging the environmental costs of data centres, IT&BT Minister Priyank Kharge termed data centres a “necessary evil” and announced plans to develop a sustainable data centre policy. In September, the Cabinet approved the new Sustainable Data Centre Policy 2026–2031.

The new policy, which The Hindu has seen, targets to attain a cumulative Data Centre capacity of 1GW (1000 MW) in Karnataka by 2031, and incentivises adoption of renewable energy and treated water.