No relaxation of environmental norms, says Andhra Pradesh High Court on Vizag data centre project
The Andhra Pradesh High Court is reviewing a petition challenging environmental clearances for a massive 8,000-MW data centre project proposed by Raiden Infotech, a subsidiary of Alphabet. The court emphasized that environmental norms cannot be relaxed for the project.
Why it matters
Balances the demand for digital infrastructure growth against critical environmental protection standards.
A Division Bench of the High Court, comprising Chief Justice Lisa Gill and Justice Challa Gunaranjan, on Monday posted to October 6 the hearing on a petition challenging the clearances granted for the establishment of a hyperscale data centre by Raiden Infotech Pvt. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Google parent Alphabet, in Visakhapatnam district.
The Bench observed that there could be no relaxation of environmental conditions and directed the petitioner and respondents to place all relevant material, including rejoinders and counter-affidavits, on record before the commencement of the proceedings.
Advocate Virag Gupta, appearing for petitioner Bolisetty Satyanarayana, said the scale of the proposed project was unprecedented. India had only about 350 MW of data centre capacity until 2020, which rose to 1,500 MW by 2025, whereas the proposed Google project in Andhra Pradesh alone was envisaged as an 8,000-MW facility, he said.
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