New Delhi, Dec. 15 -- Net investments to build upward of 6 gigawatts (GW) of data centre capacity announced just this year are almost $70 billion. Since October, at least three major direct data centre investments worth over $40 billion have been committed to India.

While this is good for India's artificial intelligence ambitions, experts and reports underline that the scarcity of freshwater supplies, coupled with lack of ample uninterrupted energy, may combine to rattle the industry that's currently on an unprecedented upward surge.

Mint explains why water and power are major threats to the infrastructure of all the world's cutting-edge technologies and what can be done about it.

The foremost concern is over water consumption. India's...