The Centre has been asked to respond to a challenge to the environmental clearance for the Rs 17,700 crore Google-Adani Vizag data centre, now before the National Green Tribunal.
Chennai: On an appeal by Boddu Ganga Rao, a former Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation corporator, the National Green Tribunal has sought the Union government’s response to the environmental clearance granted on 10 June 2026 for a 512 MW data centre at Adavivaram and Mudasarlova villages in Visakhapatnam. The Rs 17,700 crore project is linked to Google’s wider AI hub in the city [Boddu Ganga Rao v. Union of India and Others].
The matter was taken up by a Bench of Judicial Member Justice (retd.) Pushpa Sathyanarayana and Expert Member Prashant Gargava, and is listed for 26 October 2026. No interim relief has been reported. The clearance holder is Vizag Hyperscale Data Centre Park Limited, a special purpose vehicle of Adani Infra (India) Limited. Advocates KM Meenal, Kumar Abhishek, M Harshini, G Sushmitha and Santosh Kumar Yadav appeared for the appellant.
What the appeal seeks
The appellant wants the environmental clearance quashed. He also asks for an interim direction restraining construction, excavation, tree felling and site preparation until the appeal is decided. For now, the Tribunal has only called for the Centre’s response.
The grounds, as the appellant states them
The appellant contends that the project was wrongly treated as a Category B2 project cleared by the State authority. According to the appeal, the site lies about 750 metres from the Kambalakonda Wildlife Sanctuary and about 470 metres from its Eco-Sensitive Zone, and so needed appraisal by the Central government. He also contends that the project threatens the Mudasarlova Reservoir, a drinking water source, because excavation could obstruct seven feeder streams and no independent hydrological or catchment assessment was done.
The appeal further alleges that forest permission dated 8 May 2026 for clearing over 160 acres proceeded without mandatory forest conservation approvals, that electricity and water requirements and noise impact on nearby residences were not adequately considered, and that the State expert committee reviewed the proposal in a single sitting. These are the appellant’s allegations; the Tribunal has made no finding on them, and the respondents’ position is yet to be placed before it.
How the project got its clearance
In February 2026 the Andhra Pradesh government approved 601.4 acres across three locations for its AI data centre initiative, with about 160 acres earmarked for this project, which forms part of a larger hub described as a $15 billion venture developed with AdaniConneX and Airtel. The environmental clearance application was filed on 24 April 2026, the State Level Expert Appraisal Committee considered the proposal on 12 May, and the State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority granted the clearance in June 2026.
The project has also been challenged in a public interest litigation before the Andhra Pradesh High Court. There, the State has said in an affidavit that the project was cleared under the building and construction category of the EIA Notification, 2006, on the basis of its built-up area of about 1.23 lakh square metres, because data centres are not separately listed in the schedule. That High Court is reported to have declined to stay the construction at that stage.
The question both forums share
The appeal raises a point that is also being argued in the High Court: was a hyperscale data centre, which is not separately listed in the EIA Notification, correctly appraised by the State authority as a building and construction project, or should it have gone through Central appraisal given its distance from a protected forest? The Tribunal has expressed no view on that question, and the matter turns on the Centre’s reply on 26 October.
Case Title: Appeal by Boddu Ganga Rao against the Union of India and Others (appeal number not available)
Bench: Justice (retd.) Pushpa Sathyanarayana (Judicial Member) and Prashant Gargava (Expert Member), National Green Tribunal
Date of Order: October 2026 (next date: October 26, 2026)
Appearances: Advocates KM Meenal, Kumar Abhishek, M Harshini, G Sushmitha and Santosh Kumar Yadav for the appellant