State Acquires Land for Google Hub as Villagers Push Back

Government officials say they’ve acquired more than 300 acres for Google’s proposed data center near Visakhapatnam, affecting hundreds of families. Some people without formal land titles may not qualify for compensation. “We protested, but officials threatened us with jail,” farmer Venkata Surya Narayana said. That’s how villagers welcomed a global technology company’s plans on their land.

Land Claimed, Questions Unanswered

In Tarluvada, a village on the city’s outskirts, T. Aruna pointed from her roof to a hillside where excavators work from dawn until dusk. Villagers once gathered firewood and harvested cashews there. Now it’s part of Google’s proposed campus. “I wish the data center had never come here,” she said. “We feel cheated and our land has been taken away.”

Residents said government surveyors arrived in early 2025 and told them they were updating land records. By August, officials returned to say they’d acquired the land. In February, villagers taking cattle to graze found security guards blocking their path. Their protest is direct action against a project whose scale and terms, residents say, officials never made clear.

V.S. Krishna, state general secretary of the Human Rights Forum, a civil liberties group in Andhra Pradesh, described “the utter secrecy, the utter opacity in the manner in which these projects are unfolding.” He said the government hadn’t put “any meaningful, systematic, or comprehensive information in the public domain.” State officials didn’t respond to requests for comment or couldn’t be reached.

The proposed 1-gigawatt data center forms part of a $15 billion project that includes an international subsea cable gateway. Google and state officials say it could create thousands of jobs and attract AI, cloud and technology businesses. The prospect of economic change has its supporters. “Our city will become better than Hyderabad,” said BRB Naidu, Tarluvada’s village head, or sarpanch. “I think with the data centers here, we will be the focal point of the tech world and it can bring economic prosperity.”

Water Costs, Public Subsidies

In Arilova, a neighborhood on Visakhapatnam’s northern edge, groundwater levels have dropped about 115 feet since last summer, government monitoring data shows. Officials attribute the pace to rapid development and rising extraction outpacing natural recharge. Residents fear the data center will deepen the shortage. “We are so fed up,” said Palli Murli, an accountant. “We need infrastructure, which will help us with water, not a data center, which will gulp whatever is left.”

Andhra Pradesh is reportedly offering Google a 25% discount on water costs and a 25% discount on land for 10 years, along with state tax waivers, reduced power rates and other incentives that The Wall Street Journal values at roughly $2.3 billion over 20 years. E.A.S. Sarma, a former federal secretary in India’s power ministry who has objected to the project’s approvals, asked: “Where is that money coming from? Will it come from taxpayers?” Government offices didn’t answer his communications.

Google says its investment includes a commitment to be a good neighbor. Alexander Smith, who leads technical infrastructure communications for the Asia-Pacific region at Google, said the company conducted independent environmental assessments and aims to support clean-energy development. Google has promised advanced air-cooling technology, work with local organizations to expand drinking-water access, and support for fishing communities.

But the company hasn’t provided figures for the data center’s expected water consumption, its water sources or how much its stewardship programs will replenish. Google’s annual Environmental Report includes consumption data only for fully operational data centers. Krishna called the plan a “fantastic greenwash” and said the government should publish water figures.

Officials have said the campuses will eventually draw water from the Polavaram Irrigation Project. The project remains unfinished after delays, cost overruns and disputes over displacement; environmental groups question whether it can spare water for data centers when future supply is already earmarked for households, farms and existing industry. For now, people living beside the proposed hub face land changes, water worries and unanswered questions.