Before India Allots Land for AI, Show Who Pays for Power and Water — Editorial by Khazi Altaf Hussian

10-November-2026

On 3 November, Crisil Ratings projected that India’s installed data centre capacity could rise roughly fivefold to about 7.5 GW by March 2030, with more than ₹3 lakh crore in investment over four fiscal years. Those are forecasts. Crisil expects much of the expansion to concentrate in Visakhapatnam, Mumbai and Hyderabad and identifies timely grid connectivity as a major constraint. NITI Aayog’s evaluation framework also asks states to assess local water stress and impacts on public supply.

The Property Times asks: Before a state offers land or incentives, can residents and existing industrial users see the campus’s expected peak grid draw, its cooling-water source, and who will fund the substations, transmission links and water infrastructure?

The Property Times recommends a public infrastructure statement for each large campus before incentives are finalised. Show the demands of each phase, what the developer will fund, what the utility must build, and how the plan changes during a water shortage. Publish actual electricity and water use once the campus is operating. Developers and lenders benefit too: a site with a credible utility plan is easier to assess than one with a speculative commissioning date.

Approve the infrastructure plan with the real estate plan. The public should know the full cost before the land is allotted.