Overview
- NITI Aayog released a Data Centre Evaluation Framework on Wednesday that urges states to treat data centres as strategic infrastructure and to link approvals to verified electricity, water and supporting infrastructure.
- The framework calls for 20–30 year seasonal water balances, developer‑funded dedicated grid assets, lifecycle and decommissioning plans, and incentives tied to measurable outcomes such as renewable energy use and local hiring.
- India’s central government says a national data‑centre policy is in the works while companies like Tata Power are building capacity to serve the boom, with Tata Power announcing a diversified 2.8 GW pipeline of transmission, distribution and green‑energy opportunities.
- In the United States local officials and voters are pushing moratoria, stricter zoning and community‑benefit demands as polls show broad opposition to new facilities and analysis links proximity to data centres with shifts in voter preferences ahead of the 2026 midterms.
- The expansion stems from the 2022 AI surge that favours hyperscale campuses over small colocation sites, a dynamic that drives big new electricity and water needs, raises grid planning questions for states and could reshape where projects are sited and how communities are compensated.