Amazon Achieves Water Positivity in India Ahead of 2027 Target, Launches $7.4M in New Projects

Amazon has announced a series of water sustainability initiatives in India, marking a significant milestone in its global environmental commitments. The hyperscaler revealed that it has achieved water positivity across its direct operations in the country, returning 120 percent of the water it used, well ahead of its original 2027 target. This development comes as data center operators face growing scrutiny over their water consumption, particularly in water-stressed regions like India.

According to Amazon, none of its current data centers in India use water for cooling. Instead, the facilities rely entirely on air-cooled chillers. The company also stated that when it does use water for landscaping or biodiversity maintenance, it prioritizes recycled sewage water over potable supplies. “We’ve designed our Indian data centers from the ground up to minimize water impact,” a company spokesperson noted. “Air cooling is the norm here, and any water we do consume is non-potable recycled water.”

As part of its broader water stewardship push, Amazon is investing more than ₹62 crore (approximately $7.4 million) in multiple replenishment projects across the country. Once completed, these projects are expected to restore over four billion liters of water annually. In Hyderabad, Amazon has partnered with the non-profit Search to rehabilitate ten existing water storage ponds and construct 100 new ponds across 12 villages, delivering an estimated 86 million liters of water per year. In Mumbai, the company is collaborating with the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) on a ₹10 crore ($1.2 million) water restoration project covering 1,500 hectares in Maharashtra’s Vaitarna hydrobasin. That initiative is scheduled for completion in 2027 and is projected to replenish 1.3 billion liters annually.

The progress in India comes against a backdrop of industry-wide efforts to curb water usage. In June, Amazon reported that its data centers globally consumed 2.5 billion gallons of water last year, a two percent decline year-over-year. However, the company did not disclose indirect water usage at the power plants supplying electricity to its facilities, nor did it account for construction-related water impacts. Amazon also noted that its facilities use free air cooling for approximately 90 percent of the time. While competitors Google and Meta provide water usage data for individual data centers, Amazon has not released site-specific figures. The company currently operates 26 facilities worldwide using 100 percent reclaimed water, with an additional 130 such facilities under contract.

The achievement underscores the growing importance of water stewardship in the data center industry, especially in regions like India where water scarcity is a critical concern. By decoupling computing growth from freshwater consumption, Amazon’s approach offers a potential model for other operators expanding into water-stressed markets. As the company continues to scale its Indian footprint, these sustainability projects not only address local environmental challenges but also strengthen Amazon’s broader corporate responsibility narrative.