AdaniConneX Vizag data centres to use air cooling to cut freshwater reliance

AdaniConneX's planned data centre campuses in Visakhapatnam, being developed in partnership with Google, will use advanced air-cooled systems to eliminate traditional water-based evaporative cooling and safeguard local freshwater resources.

Total freshwater consumption across three planned sites — including major developments at Mudasarlova and Tarluvada — will be kept to less than the volume of a single Olympic-sized swimming pool. The development forms part of a flagship 1-gigawatt infrastructure initiative supporting Andhra Pradesh's push to build a premier hub for artificial intelligence and cloud computing.

Unlike standard facilities that rely on heavy water evaporation towers, the Vizag campuses will use closed-loop air cooling. Roughly 80 per cent of the minimal freshwater required across the sites will be dedicated to staff facilities, kitchens, and green landscaping. An on-site sewage treatment plant operating under a zero-discharge policy will recycle all domestic wastewater, preventing any runoff into the nearby Mudasarlova Reservoir or the adjoining Kambalakonda Wildlife Sanctuary.

To ensure local residents face no competition for drinking supplies, the project will rely entirely on dedicated industrial water connections rather than municipal pipelines.

Vizag's growing digital infrastructure hub

Visakhapatnam is rapidly attracting high-value technology investments as major firms expand capacity to meet India's booming demand for AI and cloud services.

Andhra Pradesh IT Minister Nara Lokesh has reinforced the state's vision for sustainable digital growth, emphasizing that modern technology enables large-scale industrial projects to co-exist with local environmental protections. AdaniConneX, a joint venture between Adani Enterprises and US-based EdgeConneX, stated that combining renewable energy integration with sustainable cooling ensures long-term infrastructure resilience as India's digital economy expands.