Page 50 - CIJ Feb 2025 - Digital Edition

SUSTAINABILITY

The Paradox of Progress

Interplay of Water, Watts & Algorithms

In the ever-expanding digital age, the seamless functioning of cloud services, AI models and global
communication networks relies on an often-overlooked foundation: water and energy. India, a rising data
hub, faces a dilemma—how to sustain digital growth without depleting its scarce resources.
Amitabh Ray, ex-managing director of Ericsson Global Services India, in this column explores the complex
interplay of technology, resource consumption and the need for sustainable solutions

oogle’s hyperscale data centre market, valued at $10 billion water, sanitation, and hygiene, as
centres, powering services in 2024, is expected to grow at a per the Stockholm International
like Gmail, YouTube, and CAGR of 10.43 percent to reach Water Institute. Water-intensive
Google Drive, consumed an $12.9 billion by 2033, according to data centres, concentrated in
Gaverage of 550,000 gallons the IMARC Group. technology hubs like Bengaluru
(2.1 million litres) of water daily and Hyderabad, exacerbate these
over the past year — adding up to Yet, this rapid expansion challenges. Every summer, these
an astonishing 200 million gallons underscores a stark paradox. India cities face severe water shortages,
annually. OpenAI’s ChatGPT, a houses 17 per cent of the global with borewells running dry and
flagship AI model, uses 500ml of population but only four per cent overexploitation of groundwater
water for every five to 50 prompts, of its water resources. Nearly pushing the region to its limits.
as revealed by Shaolei Ren, a 820 million Indians face high to
researcher at the University of extreme water stress, and 200,000 Groundwater, which supplies 80
California, Riverside. die annually due to inadequate per cent of India’s drinking water
Ren’s research also highlights
a 34 per cent increase in
Microsoft’s global water usage
from 2021 to 2022, driven by
AI investments and OpenAI
partnerships. This reflects a
growing trend: for technology
companies, water has become
the new oil, essential for cooling
data centres that meet the world’s
insatiable demand for data.

Thirst for Data vs.
Scarcity of Water

As the global digital revolution
unfolds, India emerges as a key
player in the data centre economy.
Ranking 13th globally in terms
of operational data centres, the
country is rapidly expanding. By
the end of 2025, 45 more data
centres — spanning 13 million
square feet with 1,015MW of
capacity — will come online,
as per the Indian Ministry of
Electronics & Information
Technology (MeitY). The data

50 FEBRUARY 2025•Clean India Journal•www.cleanindiajournal.com