<p>Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh government has refused to share the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) it signed with Google for setting up a data centre in Visakhapatnam, citing third-party confidentiality provisions under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.</p>.<p>Responding to an RTI application seeking a copy of the MoU, the IT, Electronics & Communications (E&C) Department said the document contained information treated as confidential by a third party.<br>Its disclosure, the department said, is restricted under Sections 11 and 8(1)(d) of the RTI Act, 2005, which relate to third-party commercial confidence and trade secrets.</p>.World Economic Forum, Andhra Pradesh sign MoU for energy & cyber resilience centre.<p>The department, however, provided a copy of Government Order Ms No 40 (IT, E&C Promotions Department), dated October 11, 2025, relating to the project’s incentives and land allotment.</p>.<p>The RTI application was filed by Chakradhar Budha, an activist from Anakapalle and co-convenor of the United Forum for RTI Campaign’s Andhra Pradesh chapter.</p>.<p>“This lack of disclosure is deeply troubling. A project of this scale involves significant commitment of public resources, including power, water, land and subsidies and incentives of various kinds. It is widely acknowledged that such large data centres will exert significant pressure on the state’s already stressed power and water infrastructure. Without access to the MoU, how are civil society organisations, citizens and researchers to assess whether adequate environmental safeguards, social impact assessments, data localisation safeguards, privacy protections, requisite oversight mechanisms and data privacy frameworks have been built into the agreement?” said Human Rights Forum (HRF), coordination committee member, VS Krishna.</p>.<p>Google had in October announced India’s largest AI data centre in Visakhapatnam, backed by a $15 billion investment over five years (2026–2030).</p>.<p>This marks Google’s biggest investment in India to date. The AI hub will feature gigawatt-scale data centre operations supported by subsea cable connectivity and clean energy infrastructure. The campus is being developed in collaboration with partners such as AdaniConneX— a joint venture between the Adani Group and EdgeConneX — and Airtel.</p>
<p>Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh government has refused to share the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) it signed with Google for setting up a data centre in Visakhapatnam, citing third-party confidentiality provisions under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.</p>.<p>Responding to an RTI application seeking a copy of the MoU, the IT, Electronics & Communications (E&C) Department said the document contained information treated as confidential by a third party.<br>Its disclosure, the department said, is restricted under Sections 11 and 8(1)(d) of the RTI Act, 2005, which relate to third-party commercial confidence and trade secrets.</p>.World Economic Forum, Andhra Pradesh sign MoU for energy & cyber resilience centre.<p>The department, however, provided a copy of Government Order Ms No 40 (IT, E&C Promotions Department), dated October 11, 2025, relating to the project’s incentives and land allotment.</p>.<p>The RTI application was filed by Chakradhar Budha, an activist from Anakapalle and co-convenor of the United Forum for RTI Campaign’s Andhra Pradesh chapter.</p>.<p>“This lack of disclosure is deeply troubling. A project of this scale involves significant commitment of public resources, including power, water, land and subsidies and incentives of various kinds. It is widely acknowledged that such large data centres will exert significant pressure on the state’s already stressed power and water infrastructure. Without access to the MoU, how are civil society organisations, citizens and researchers to assess whether adequate environmental safeguards, social impact assessments, data localisation safeguards, privacy protections, requisite oversight mechanisms and data privacy frameworks have been built into the agreement?” said Human Rights Forum (HRF), coordination committee member, VS Krishna.</p>.<p>Google had in October announced India’s largest AI data centre in Visakhapatnam, backed by a $15 billion investment over five years (2026–2030).</p>.<p>This marks Google’s biggest investment in India to date. The AI hub will feature gigawatt-scale data centre operations supported by subsea cable connectivity and clean energy infrastructure. The campus is being developed in collaboration with partners such as AdaniConneX— a joint venture between the Adani Group and EdgeConneX — and Airtel.</p>