🕒 Last updated on July 12, 2025
India’s growing digital economy could be in serious danger. More than 12% of India’s data centers could sustain significant damage from climate change by 2050, according to a recent analysis. This warning comes from an international study that looked at the impact of extreme weather on data centre infrastructure.
Extreme weather poses an increasing threat to India’s digital backbone
Data centres are huge buildings that store and manage digital data. They power essential services like banking apps, cloud storage, artificial intelligence, online shopping, and even video calls. As India becomes more digital, these centres are becoming more important than ever.
But now, they are facing serious climate threats. The study looked at 9,000 data centres worldwide. This included 228 data centres in India that are already running, being built, or in planning stages. It used a high-emissions climate scenario to see how events like floods and rising sea levels could affect them.
The result is worrying. In India, more than one out of 10 data centers may be at high risk of harm by 2050. This means internet services, banking, and digital systems could all face serious disruptions if extreme weather hits.
Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Southern Tech Hubs Among Worst Hit
The report names Uttar Pradesh as one of the worst places globally for climate risk to data centres. In the state, over 61% of data centers may sustain significant damage by 2050.
Other major states are also in trouble. These include:
- Maharashtra, home to Mumbai, a key financial and tech city.
- Telangana, with its capital Hyderabad, a major software hub.
- Karnataka, which includes Bengaluru, known as India’s Silicon Valley.
- Tamil Nadu, where Chennai is a fast-growing tech city.
These areas have a significant impact on India’s digital economy. They hold thousands of servers that run everything from school portals to hospital systems. If these servers go offline due to a flood or storm, it could affect millions of people and cause financial losses.
According to the assessment, the risk to India’s data centers is expected to more than double by the end of this century. The increase is projected to be around 111%. That means the danger is not only real but is also growing fast.
The study put each data centre into three categories — high, medium, or low risk. This was based on the chance of it suffering damage each year and the cost it would take to rebuild the building. If the chance of loss is high, the centre is marked as “high risk.”
Billions in Investment at Risk as Adaptation Becomes Essential
It is anticipated that India will receive approximately $5.7 billion in data center industry investments. This places the nation at the forefront of South Asia’s digital infrastructure market. But with increasing climate risks, much of this investment could be at risk if steps are not taken to protect the facilities.
The report says that extreme weather such as heavy rainfall, floods, and sea-level rise could cause serious harm to these facilities. If a data centre is damaged or shut down, essential services like mobile banking, online payments, and health records could be affected for hours or even days.
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To lower the risks, the report mentions that data centres could be built in smarter ways. This includes stronger building designs and better protection against flooding. By 2050, these actions might result in a more than two-thirds reduction in the number of high-risk data centers. But the warning is clear — action must be taken soon to protect this important infrastructure.
The issue is not just limited to India. Other countries like the United States, China, Germany, Japan, and Denmark are also seeing rising risks to their data centres. In big cities like New Jersey, Tokyo, Hamburg, Shanghai, and Hong Kong, up to 64% of data centres could be in trouble by mid-century.
India, as a rapidly growing digital economy, must keep this in mind. As more people depend on online services for everyday tasks, keeping data centres safe becomes more than just a business issue — it becomes a public need.