States should evaluate natural resources before pitching for data centres: NITI Aayog
NITI Aayog and Deloitte India have developed a framework urging Indian states to link data center approvals to verified availability of electricity, water, and infrastructure, and to assess economic benefits against public support. This comes as India's data center industry rapidly expands, with projected fivefold electricity consumption increase by 2030, leading to local opposition over resource use.
Why it matters
This framework addresses critical sustainability and resource allocation challenges posed by the booming data center industry in India, aiming to balance economic growth with environmental and social concerns.
An evaluation framework jointly developed by the NITI Aayog and Deloitte India calls for data centre approvals to be linked to verified availability of electricity, water and other infrastructure, while requiring States to assess the projects’ economic benefits against the public support they receive.
The document, made public on Wednesday (October 14, 2026), comes amid the rapid expansion of India’s data centre industry. India had 271 data centres as of January 2026, according to a February report by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW).
The installed capacity of these data centres stood at about 1.57 gigawatts (GW) in August 2026, according to the Union government. Industry estimates project that such capacity could reach 4.5-6.5 GW by 2030.
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