AI Data Centres and Water Security in India: A Regulatory Perspective

Abstract

The exponential proliferation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven data centers across the globe has precipitated a crisis hitherto overlooked in legal and policy discourse: the systematic depletion of freshwater resources. This paper examines the intersection of AI infrastructure expansion, hydro-environmental degradation, and the conspicuous lacunae in Indian environmental jurisprudence governing data center operations. Drawing on the most current empirical data including the United Nations University 2026 report, peer-reviewed hydrological studies, and field evidence from India's major data center hubs this paper advances three arguments: first, that AI data centers constitute an emergent class of high-volume water consumers in water-stressed urban regions; second, that India's existing environmental legal framework, including the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, and the National Green Tribunal Act, 2010, is structurally ill-equipped to regulate this sector's hydrological footprint; and third, that the absence of mandatory water-consumption disclosures and sector-specific regulation represents a justiciable governance failure. The paper comparatively weighs these environmental costs against India's legitimate aspirations for digital sovereignty, GDP growth ($6.8 trillion projected GDP contribution by 2047), and technology leadership, proposing a novel regulatory architecture grounded in constitutional environmental rights, international environmental law principles, and comparative best practices.