Govt considering sustainable data centre policy: Karnataka IT Minister
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka IT/BT Minister Priyank Kharge on Wednesday said the state government is considering a "sustainable data centre policy" amid concerns over significant environmental costs associated with their water and energy consumption.
Responding to a question by Doddaballapur BJP MLA Dheeraj Muniraj during the Question Hour in the assembly, he said, “We have 32 private data centres functioning in the state. He (MLA) wants data centres from the government side. We already have a data centre policy, which is under review."
Calling the data centres as "necessary evil," he said they are needed for AI, machine learning and emerging technologies.
"But data centres are also heavy water and energy guzzlers. So, we at the government are mulling a sustainable data centre policy, because our earlier data centre policy is two or three years old, and with changing technology, we are planning for sustainable data centres."
The Minister said the government's focus is shifting beyong Bengaluru, to coastal areas like Mangaluru.
"Since we can bring sub-sea cables there. We are discussing with private companies. I have written to the Union Telecom Ministry and sought a sub-sea landing at Mangaluru. They said they would provide assistance if private companies do it."
Pointing out that hyperscale data centres will not be suitable for Bengaluru due to absence of a port and water constraints, he said, "it would be better if it is on the sea side. So our focus is on edge, small, medium and large data centers, rather than hyperscale. Data centres requiring above 40 megawatt power will be hyperscale."
Explaining the economics of data centres, Kharge said, “One megawatt needs about Rs 70 crore. One acre can yield only one megawatt. We have to spend 25 million litres per megawatt per year for one data centre. Five questions on ChatGPT will consume 500 ml of water. That is how much the consumption is.”
However, new technologies have come that involve using treated water at data centres. “That’s why we’ll relook at our policy, and come up with a sustainable one."
Earlier, Muniraj urged the government to set up data centre parks in his Doddaballapur constituency, saying Bengaluru, the IT city was losing out on data centres as companies were moving to other cities.
According to him, Bengaluru is facing a shortage of colocation and large enterprise data centres, and there is no dedicated data centre park from the government, because of which large enterprises are leaving Bengaluru.
Noting that Bengaluru ranks behind Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Delhi in terms of data centres, the MLA said there is a growing need for large data centres.
For full-stack data centers, a 'Data Centre park' should be sanctioned for Doddaballapura, near which the KWIN (Knowledge, Wellbeing, and Innovation) City is coming up , he said, adding that "Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Meta, Alibaba, Tencent, Oracle, Apple, NTT -- all of them have offices in Bengaluru. Their data centres should be retained in Bengaluru."
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RCB beat MI by 18 runs after batters fire
Mumbai (PTI): Royal Challengers Bengaluru skipper Rajat Patidar, Phil Salt and Virat Kohli blasted half-centuries as the defending champions beat Mumbai Indians by 18 runs in an Indian Premier League match here on Sunday.
Salt (78 off 36 balls) and Kohli (50 off 38 balls) stitched together a 120-run stand for the opening wicket before Patidar scored a rapid 53 off just 20 balls as RCB posted 240 for 4.
In response, Mumbai Indians were restricted to 222 for 5, with RCB spinner Suyash Sharma (2/47) putting the skids on the home side with a double strike in the eighth over, from which they could not recover.
Sherfane Rutherford top-scored for MI with an unbeaten 71 off 31 balls.
While opener Rohit Sharma appeared to be struggling with a hamstring issue and had to retire hurt on 19, his partner Ryan Rickelton made 37, while Suryakumar Yadav (33) and Hardik Pandya (40) were the other contributors for MI.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 240 for 4 in 20 overs (Phil Salt 78, Virat Kohli 50, Rajat Patidar 53, Tim David 35 not out).
Mumbai Indians: 222 for 5 in 20 overs (Sherfane Rutherford 71 not out, Ryan Rickelton 37, Hardik Pandya 40; Suyash Sharma 2/47).
