India’s junior IT minister Jitin Prasada said on 14 October that the government would roll out a data centre policy to keep consumers from paying more for electricity, Reuters reported. He spoke at a New Delhi event organised by the Central Electricity Authority. The minister offered no account of the policy’s planned scope or its publication date, Reuters reported.
India currently approves data centres under existing environmental and building rules, while some states offer their own incentives. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government sees the sector as a $200 billion opportunity. Prasada said data centres in some nations were diverting electricity from consumers and raising their bills.
The announcement follows protests over facilities planned by Amazon and Google. Residents near Amazon’s site outside Mumbai have raised concerns about pressure on power and water supplies and about noise. Environmentalists say Google’s $15 billion project in Visakhapatnam threatens wildlife and improperly uses temple land. Both companies deny wrongdoing and say their facilities use advanced technologies to minimise resource use.
