New Delhi: The upcoming Google-Adani data centre in Vishakapatnam received environmental clearance (EC) under the ‘Buildings and Construction Projects’ category and not as industrial activity, reveals an affidavit submitted before the Andhra Pradesh High Court.
The high court bench led by Chief Justice Lisa Gill is hearing a public interest litigation (PIL), challenging the approvals granted to the project.
The affidavit, filed by the Member Secretary of the State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), which gave the EC, stated that the application for the green clearance filed under the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification of 2006 was made under item 8(a) of the Schedule, Category B2, which deals with building and construction projects to be cleared by state environment department.
The appraisal and subsequent EC was not for data centre operation because this activity is not specifically listed in the schedule, stated the affidavit.
The EIA Notification of 2006 was issued to improve transparency, categorise projects based on their scale and impact and decentralise environment clearances, as it empowered the state environment ministry to approve projects of a specific category.
The schedule under the EIA notification of 2006 is a comprehensive list of industrial projects, commercial activities and development projects that require prior environmental clearance before any construction, operation, expansion or modernisation can begin.
The application for EC in connection with the data centre project was filed on 24 April, 2026 by M/s Vizag Hyperscale Data Centre Park Limited.
As per the application, the proposed project is located on 160 acres extending to two villages—Adavivaram and Mudasarlova—and the built-up area is approximately 1.23 lakh square meters.
The PIL the court is hearing was filed by environmental activist Bolisetty Satyanarayana. The petition raised concerns over temple land, environmental approvals, water and electricity needs.
The SEIAA affidavit further submitted that since the built-up area exceeded 20,000 square metres and was below 1.5 lakh square metres, it got covered under item 8(a) of the Schedule under the 2006 EIA notification.
The proposal was first examined by the State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC) comprising 15 experts from different backgrounds. It was considered by the SEAC with reference to the applicability of item 8(a) and the environmental and mitigating measures associated with the building and construction component as disclosed in the application.
Since data centre activity is not identified in the list of categories mentioned in the EIA notification’s schedule, the SEAC considered the proposal based on the project particulars and the environmental management measures furnished by the applicant under the building and construction project category.
In terms of the proposal, the total water requirement for the proposed data centre park is 307 KLD (246 KLD fresh water and 61 KLD recycled). It proposes to source water from rural water supply and sanitation. The power requirement for the park is 512 MegaWatt, which will be sourced from the state power distribution company. Besides, the park will have 100 generator sets as standby.
The proposal assures that there will be no waste water generation as all of it would be treated or used for greenbelt development.
“The committee appraised the application from the environmental point of view only with respect to liquid, solid and air pollution management,” notes the affidavit, as it further informed the court that the data centre park will use air-cooled chillers to dissipate the heat generated by IT equipment and maintain the required temperature conditions for reliable operations.
Based on SEAC’s recommendation, SEIAA granted EC to the project on 5 June, 2026.
“It is submitted that the proposed building of data centre project attracts item 8(a) by virtue of its built-up area. The operational 512 MW data centre involves machinery, electrical and cooling systems, 100 DG sets of 2.75 MW capacity each, water-management and heat rejection systems, and other operational infrastructure. Further to submit that the data centre is not specifically listed as a scheduled activity under the EIA notification, 2006, and its amendments thereof. Hence, EC was given based on built-up area. It is submitted that the general conditions are not applicable to the projects listed under item 8(a),” the affidavit said.
The SEIAA accepted that the park is just 120 meters from the Mudasarlova Reservoir, a vital source of drinking water for Vishakhapatnam. Therefore, it added, the environmental clearance is subject to a stipulation to ensure that activities of the proposed project “should not adversely impact” the river and the nearby Kambalakonda Wildlife sanctuary.
The affidavit also disclosed that the data centre park got forest clearance because it is located outside the protected Kambalakonda Wildlife Sanctuary. It is located at a distance of about 850 metres from the sanctuary.
Pointing to this, PIL petitioner’s advocate, Virag Gupta told the bench that in terms of the affidavit’s disclosure the data centre park was located within 10 kilometres of the protected forest and, therefore, fell within Category A of the EIA notification’s Schedule. Projects falling within this category require environmental clearance from the Central Government, he told the court.
Though the HC refused to stay the ongoing construction, it said the work should be carried with out necessary environmental and legal permissions.
Speaking to ThePrint, Gupta said as per the Union Environment Ministry’s 28 April, 2017 notification, no new commercial construction of any kind is permitted within 1 kilometre from the boundary of an eco-sensitive zone. Also, any Group B category project or activity falling within 10 kilometres of the boundary of a notified eco-sensitive zone has to be treated as Category A, for which the central government’s prior sanction is necessary.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
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