A Division Bench of the High Court, comprising Chief Justice Lisa Gill and Justice Challa Gunaranjan, on Monday posted to October 6 the hearing on a petition challenging the clearances granted for the establishment of a hyperscale data centre by Raiden Infotech Pvt. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Google parent Alphabet, in Visakhapatnam district.

The Bench observed that there could be no relaxation of environmental conditions and directed the petitioner and respondents to place all relevant material, including rejoinders and counter-affidavits, on record before the commencement of the proceedings.

Advocate Virag Gupta, appearing for petitioner Bolisetty Satyanarayana, said the scale of the proposed project was unprecedented. India had only about 350 MW of data centre capacity until 2020, which rose to 1,500 MW by 2025, whereas the proposed Google project in Andhra Pradesh alone was envisaged as an 8,000-MW facility, he said.

Mr. Gupta argued that the scale of the project warranted thorough scrutiny of all clearances, particularly in view of its potential environmental impact and proximity to the Kambalakonda eco-sensitive zone.

He also raised concerns over the proposed consumption of water and electricity and the State’s facilitation of several requirements sought by Raiden Infotech. He contended that Google had not adequately addressed the issues raised in connection with the mega project.

Mr. Gupta further argued that statutory permissions could not be bypassed by granting relaxations under the single-window system.

Advocate-General Dammalapati Srinivas informed the court that environmental clearance for the project was issued on June 10, 2026, following which another individual had challenged it before the National Green Tribunal.

He said the State’s position on the issues raised in the petition, including the allotment of land belonging to the Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Devasthanam, would be made clear during Tuesday’s hearing on the basis of instructions received.