In early 2024 officials arrived in the remote Andhra Pradesh village of Tarluvada promising a massive investment from Google, describing the venture as a $15 billion artificial-intelligence hub that would transform the hamlet into a recognised technology centre and generate abundant employment opportunities for the largely agrarian community.
Residents, many of whom had never heard the term artificial intelligence, initially welcomed the prospect but quickly grew wary as the scale of the project became clearer; similar opposition has emerged worldwide wherever large AI facilities are proposed, from the United States to Scotland, reflecting fears of disproportionate local costs.
Google initially publicised the development as a one-gigawatt facility, yet state environmental clearances list a capacity of 2.51 GW, roughly the output of two large nuclear reactors, which would represent more than a quarter of Andhra Pradesh’s total electricity consumption, a state home to over 55 million people.
Activists warn that meeting such power demand could intensify the region’s reliance on coal, given that three-quarters of India’s grid remains fossil-fuel based, while the site’s proximity to a reserve forest, a drinking-water reservoir and a wildlife sanctuary raises concerns about heat emissions, deforestation of over 100 acres and pressure on already scarce water resources.
The state granted the environmental clearance in just nine days without a public hearing, prompting three petitions to the National Green Tribunal and a separate suit in the Andhra Pradesh high court; petitioners argue that the impact assessments were inadequate, scientifically unrealistic and failed to consider ecological or community costs.
Government officials contend that AI infrastructure is essential for national digital competitiveness, citing an economic survey that notes India produces nearly 20 percent of global data yet hosts only about three percent of worldwide datacentres; Google, for its part, says the project will be powered by new clean energy and will employ air-cooling systems that do not draw on local water supplies, asserting no adverse effect on the village.