Why in news
- Surging investments in artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure have raised environmental and resource sustainability concerns regarding India's data centre capacity growth.
What is driving the issue?
- Data centres require continuous, ultra-reliable power supplies and heavy liquid cooling infrastructure to prevent server overheating.
- Unregulated expansion creates localized pressure on municipal water supplies and regional electricity grids.
Key operational challenges
- Transmission bottlenecks prevent direct off-take of distant renewable energy, forcing reliance on fossil-fuel backup power.
- Water consumption in evaporative cooling systems competes directly with civic and agricultural demand in urban clusters.
- High spatial concentration of server facilities creates localized urban heat island effects and high electronic waste generation.
Why it matters
- Requires statutory green building standards, mandatory water-recycling frameworks, and clear energy efficiency metrics.
- Ensures digital infrastructure development does not compromise national climate commitments or local ecological stability.
Key terms
Power Usage Effectiveness
A metric calculated by dividing the total energy consumed by a data centre by the energy delivered strictly to computing equipment.
Mains discussion
- Balancing digital economy growth with resource sustainability and climate obligations.
Source: The Hindu
Same topic · past papers
UPSC has asked this before
These previous-year questions sit on the same topic. Open one to practise the earlier ask.
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2023 · Q19 · GS II · 15 marks
'The expansion and strengthening of NATO and a stronger US-Europe strategic partnership works well in India.' What is your opinion about this statement? Give reasons and examples to support your answer. -
2025 · Q6 · General Studies · 2 marks
Consider the following statements: I. India has joined the Minerals Security Partnership as a member. II. India is a resource-rich country in all the 30 critical minerals that it has identified. III. The Parliament in 2023 has amended the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 empowering the Central Government to exclusively auction mining lease and composite license for certain critical minerals. Which of the statements given above are correct? -
2025 · Q79 · General Studies · 2 marks
Consider the following pairs : Country Resource-rich in I. Botswana : Diamond II. Chile : Lithium III. Indonesia : Nickel In how many of the above rows is the given information correctly matched? -
2023 · Q6 · GS II · 10 marks
The crucial aspect of development process has been the inadequate attention paid to Human Resource Development in India. Suggest measures that can address this adequacy. -
2023 · Q14 · GS I · 15 marks
Comment on the resource potentials of the long coastline of India and highlight the status of natural hazard preparedness in these areas.