Google-Adani data centre: Chinmayi's Simhachalam post sparks debate with TDP

Follow TNM's WhatsApp channel for news updates and story links.A tweet by singer Chinmayi flagging the allotment of Simhachalam temple land for a Google-Adani data centre project has triggered a public exchange on X involving the Telugu Desam Party's digital wing and the Human Rights Forum (HRF), reigniting scrutiny of the Andhra Pradesh government's hyperscale data centre push near Visakhapatnam.Chinmayi shared a Frontline article criticising the state government's decision to allot Simhachalam hill lands — considered sacred as the site of a prominent Vaishnavite shrine — for one of three Google-Adani AI data centres planned near Vizag. Her post questioned whether the temple link would finally shift public opinion against the project, noting what she called official indifference to environmental costs.I know people care about Data Centers more than they care for health, water, poisoning their bodies, birds and animals and the bees. People in India and lawmakers dont care for the environment, that is established. But...... Simhachalam Temple land has been allotted to this…— Chinmayi Sripaada (@Chinmayi) July 9, 2026 According to reports, 160 acres owned by Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Devasthanam at Simhachalam were allotted for the project by the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC), the state's industrial infrastructure agency in April 2026. It was then leased to Vizag Hyperscale Data Centre Park Ltd, a special purpose vehicle owned by Adani Infra (India) Ltd — a partner of Raiden Infotech India Pvt Ltd, the Google subsidiary collaborating with Adani on the data centre projects.The Andhra Pradesh High Court has since sought explanations from the state government, APIIC, and statutory bodies including the State Environment Impact Authority (SEIAA), after admitting a public interest litigation filed by environmentalist Bolisetty Satyanarayana, who is seeking cancellation of the allotment on grounds that transferring endowment land to a private company was illegal.The handle @iTDP_Official, TDP's official digital wing handle, responded directly to Chinmayi, thanking her for "caring about Andhra's soil" but accusing her of "selective environmentalism" for opposing data centres while using platforms that run on them.With respect, @Chinmayi Ji, Thankyou you for caring about Andhra’s soil. We value this conversation. But opposing data centres on platforms powered by data centres is selective environmentalism at its most comfortable.For us, faith is not negotiable, people are not… pic.twitter.com/shn9QGkTlD— iTDP Official (@iTDP_Official) July 10, 2026 In a longer follow-up thread, iTDP argued the land was leased, not sold, and that "the sanctity of the temple remains completely untouched and sovereign", with all legal questions resting with the court. It framed the project as reversing a generational talent drain to Bengaluru and Hyderabad and defended the state's water and energy plans, saying Andhra was pursuing "a sustainable 6.5 GW scale" against over 10 GW of corporate interest, calling this "restraint" rather than indifference.Rohith Gutta of the Human Rights Forum pushed back on the rebuttal, arguing it erased environmental and community costs from what he called a "progress" narrative, and accused the government of withholding transparency on its green power and water plans while offering rhetoric instead of public hearings."You can't take the environment and people out of the equation and call it progress," HRF said.The Official account of Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the ruling Party in Andhra Pradesh, posted a document justifying the destructive Data Centers in Visakhapatnam, in response to @Chinmayi. We are debunking the assertions of TDP here, line by line, assertion by assertion. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/xv8BdzqCbQ— Gutta Rohith (@gutta_rohith) July 12, 2026 HRF cited company-submitted documents to claim the three Google-Adani sites would together generate a permanent workforce of only 1,725, questioning Rs 23,000 crore in subsidies for that number of jobs. It also disputed iTDP's characterisation of Godavari water flowing into the sea as "waste," calling it basic hydrology, and said the Polavaram project was built for irrigation and drinking water — not data centres — at the cost of tribal displacement.On the Simhachalam site specifically, HRF said: "Data Centers do not create 'livelihoods, skills, and a future'. They do the opposite... The Data Center site at Simhachalam actually is on the catchment of Mudasarlova Reservoir and next to the Kambalakonda Wildlife Sanctuary."