Prioritize Water Over Data Centers
From EAS Sarma, IAS, former secretary of Government of India
To
Shri Honourble A Revanth Reddy,
Chief Minister of Telangana.
Shri Revanth Reddy Garu,
I am reminding you of the letter written to you on 18-9-2026 regarding the issues people will have to face due to the 5,000 MW data centers permitted by the Government of Telangana in Ranga Reddy district. Based on the details available to me, companies like Amazon, TCS, Microsoft, AirTrunk, SIFY, UPS-Volt, Iron Mountain, Princeton Digital, and Pi are constructing data centers in Chandanvelly in Shabad Tehsil, Meerkhanpet in Kandukur Tehsil, and Raviryal in Maheshwaram Tehsil.
I have seen news reports that people in around Hyderabad are facing severe water shortages. I also came across news that Hyderabad Metro/Water Board declared an emergency regarding Hyderabad’s water requirements https://www.siasat.com/hyderabad -water-board-declares-emergency-over-acute-shortage] (https://www.siasat.com/hyderabad-water-board-declares-emergency-over-acute-shortage)).
The 5,000 MW data centers approved by the Telangana government will use 216 million liters of water per day (43 MGD). This means the government will have to divert water meant for 11 lakh people to these data centers. Today, while the city’s water requirement stands at 750 MGD, only 600 MGD is available—creating a current deficit of 150 MGD. Due to population growth, this shortage may increase to 230 MGD over the next 5 to 10 years. The government needs to set up additional water infrastructure for this, but the required water resources are not easily accessible. Over the next two to three years, the El Niño effect on the state’s water resources could be high. Additionally, global climate change is also likely to impact water resources in the state. On the other hand, the capacity of lakes and water bodies around Hyderabad is diminishing day by day.
Keeping this situation in mind, the government should not have granted permissions to data centers that consume water on such a massive scale. Even now, the government must stop the construction of these data centers.
Regarding the additional electricity generation and transmission infrastructure required for the 5,000 MW data centers, your government does not appear to have made any advance planning. An investment of around ₹85,000 crore will be required for this, and setting up such facilities may take at least 5 to 6 years. If even a single data center among these 5,000 MW data centers suffers a breakdown for 5 to 10 minutes, it can severely impact the electricity grid. Precautionary measures must be taken for this. However, according to your data center policy, electricity is being provided to these data centers at cheap rates. This means that to fund the investments needed for generating and transmitting 5,000 MW of power, the government will either have to hike electricity charges or levy additional taxes on the public. From this perspective as well, the government should reconsider its decisions regarding data centers.
Under Telangana’s data center policy, the state government is offering various subsidies to data centers that make lakhs of crores in profits. The subsidies granted by the state government to the 5,000 MW data centers could exceed ₹50,000 crore. Furthermore, the Central Government has announced a “Tax Holiday” until 2047 for data centers. Because of this, these 5,000 MW data centers stand to gain an additional profit of ₹4,75,000 crore. How will data center companies—reaping such massive benefits from both the state and central governments—benefit the local public? What kind of employment opportunities will they generate for locals? It is astonishing that the state government has not obtained written agreements from these companies regarding this matter.
Keeping the above points in mind, I hope the state government will reconsider its decisions regarding data centers.
E.A.S.Sarma – 26 -10 – 2026
14-40-4/1 Gokhale Road, Maharanipeta, Visakhapatnam 530002, Mobile: 91-9866021646, Email: eassarma@gmail.com – Website: http://eassarma.in
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