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Informist, Monday, Aug. 24, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – The Andhra Pradesh High Court Monday observed that "environmental clearance cannot be given a go-by" in Google LLC. and Adani Group's development of India's largest artificial intelligence data centre campus and new green energy infrastructure in Visakhapatnam. The court noted the state government's statement that care and caution are being exercised regarding the development of the data centre and steps to protect the environment are also being taken within the parameters of law. It asked the government to ensure all steps are taken with requisite permissions for the data centre.

 

The court was hearing a public interest litigation by an environmental activist, Bolisetty Satyanarayana. The petitioner alleged that the transfer of 160 acres of endowment land situated in the area where the data centre has to come up was illegal, arbitrary, unconstitutional, and in violation of environment protection laws. 

 

The petitioner urged the court to set aside the environmental clearance issued by the state government for the data centre. He also urged it to restrain all construction activities at the site until a proper environmental impact assessment with public consultation is conducted and a master zonal plan is approved by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

 

The petitioner said the project is located within 1 km from Kambalakondra Wildlife Sanctuary and violates eco-sensitive zone laws. Further, the project is situated within 120 metres of the Mudasarlova Reservoir, a critical drinking water source for Visakhapatnam city, thereby threatening public health and violating the buffer zone norms mandated by the National Green Tribunal.

 

The petitioner said the approval to fell 40 trees and transplant 20 trees within the eco-sensitive zone of a wildlife sanctuary, without proper assessment, violates the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. Allotment of public land to a private corporate entity at concessional rates without following the procedure of law violates Article 14 and Article 39(b) of the Constitution, he said.

 

Google's AI hub in Visakhapatnam is a multi-faceted investment of approximately $15 billion over five years, comprising gigawatt-scale data centre operations, supported by a robust subsea cable network and clean energy, to drive the most demanding AI workloads in India. It will be brought to life in collaboration with ecosystem partners, including AdaniConneX and Bharti Airtel Ltd.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Himanshi Gupta

 

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