Published Sep 11, 2026 | 4:07 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 11, 2026 | 4:07 PM
D Sridhar Babu. (Screengrab)
Telangana IT and Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu made it clear that data centres would not be allowed to strain the power supply meant for households, farms and industry while responding to a question during the Assembly session on Friday, 11 September.
The exchange began after BJP MLA from Sirpur Palvai Harish Babu flagged the scale of electricity that upcoming data centres in Telangana would require. He argued that it is IT services, not data centres, that generate employment.
Referring to research from the Harvard Gazette and Food and Water Watch on public opposition to data centres, Harish Babu asked the minister to take the concerns seriously.
Minister Sridhar Babu acknowledged that data centres do pose challenges, but said the government’s approach was to secure electricity for domestic consumption, agriculture, industry and the state’s own requirements first, and take up data centres’ power needs only after that.
Sridhar Babu added that a special action plan had been drawn up to handle issues expected from the sector’s expansion in the coming years, with alternative power arrangements being worked out so that local supply is not affected. Data centres, he said, would still be central to building an IT ecosystem in the state, and the government intended to keep supporting their growth.
In response to questions on why more Tier-I IT firms have not moved into Nizamabad, Sridhar Babu said companies including Cognizant, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, TCS, Oracle, Infosys and Microsoft had been asked to open offices there and in other Tier-II cities, though he could not yet estimate job numbers pending their proposals.
BJP’s K Venkata Ramana Reddy countered that Nizamabad’s IT hub, built with public funds, remained unused, risking a youth exodus, while Alair MLA Beerla Ilaiah sought a dedicated IT park for his constituency.
Sridhar Babu said firms weighed factors such as schools, hospitals and hotels before relocating, and that the government would consider fresh incentives to draw them to smaller cities.
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(With inputs from Sreshta Ladegam.)
