‘It’s hell for us here’: Mumbai families suffer as datacentres keep the city hooked on coal
Rising energy demands from datacentres delay closure of coal plants in Mumbai’s most polluted neighborhood
Mumbai, India – November 24, 2025
In the eastern seafront neighborhood of Mahul, Mumbai, residents are enduring severe health and environmental consequences as the city continues to depend heavily on coal power due to surging electricity demand from rapidly expanding datacentres. This industrial sprawl is stretching Mumbai’s energy grid and forcing the government to keep notoriously polluting coal plants operational, despite previous plans to shut them down.
Kiran Kasbe, 36, drives his rickshaw taxi daily through the smog-choked streets of Mahul. Once a small fishing village, Mahul is now heavily industrialized and is known as one of the filthiest parts of Mumbai. The thick, oily stench of smoke and pollution pervades the air, even inside closed vehicles. Kasbe recalls the grim reality his family faces: his 54-year-old mother was diagnosed with brain cancer earlier this year, with doctors finding three tumors. While the exact cause of her cancer remains uncertain, studies have linked proximity to coal plants with higher incidences of such illnesses.
“We are not the only ones facing health challenges in the area,” Kasbe said. “It’s all covered with filth.”
Coal plant closures reversed amid soaring electricity demand
Two major coal-fired power plants located just a few hundred meters from Mahul, owned by Indian multinational conglomerates Tata Group and Adani Group, were originally slated to close last year under government emissions reduction measures. However, both closures were abruptly reversed in late 2023 after Tata argued that Mumbai’s accelerating demand for electricity would outpace supply without continued coal power generation.
Neither Tata nor Adani responded to multiple requests for comment on the issue.
The state government of Maharashtra subsequently extended the life of Tata’s Mahul coal plant by at least five years and delayed the shutdown of a 500-megawatt coal station operated by Adani north of Mumbai.
Data centres fuel energy demand and climate conflict
The unexpected reversal of coal plant closures is largely driven by the city’s booming datacentre industry, which is powering India’s transformation into an AI and cloud computing hub but at a heavy environmental cost.
An investigation conducted by SourceMaterial and The Guardian revealed that Amazon, the world’s largest datacentre operator, has a significant footprint in Mumbai. Publicly, Amazon lists three availability zones for datacentres in the Mumbai metropolitan area, yet leaked internal records from 2024 indicate the company was operating 16 datacentre locations in the city alone—many leased rather than owned facilities that are less visible publicly.
These facilities consumed 624,518 megawatt hours of electricity last year, enough to power more than 400,000 Indian homes for a year. Industry experts estimate that by 2030, datacentres could account for a third of Mumbai’s entire energy use.
“The biggest single factor in the failure to transition away from fossil fuels here is the explosion of energy demand driven by datacentres,” explained Bhaskar Chakravorti, a technology and society researcher at Tufts University. “With demand growing exponentially, it’s not surprising government green commitments are falling behind.”
Amazon’s role in the energy landscape contested
Amazon’s spokesperson, Kylee Yonas, rejected claims that the company contributes to Mumbai’s pollution issues. She highlighted Amazon’s investments in renewable energy across India, including 53 solar and wind projects capable of generating over 4 million megawatt-hours of clean energy annually. Yonas added that these projects, such as a 99-megawatt wind facility in Maharashtra, could power more than 1.3 million Indian homes once fully operational.
Critics like Eliza Pan of Amazon Employees for Climate Justice argue the company uses green energy investments to obscure its dependency on polluting energy sources. They point to Amazon’s use of renewable energy certificates alongside direct green energy purchases as “creative accounting” that overstates the company’s green credentials.
Mahul residents battle ongoing contamination and illness
Residents of Mahul face a daily battle with the health effects of pollution. Tens of thousands, many relocated after slum clearances elsewhere in Mumbai, live amidst high concentrations of industrial emissions. Along with coal plants by Tata and Adani, the district hosts three refineries and 16 chemical factories, according to a 2019 report from India’s Centre for Policy Studies. Illnesses such as asthma, tuberculosis, skin infections, and cancers are widespread.
Local activists like Santosh Jadhav have petitioned the government for relocation efforts, but with little response. “Everything is contaminated. We are tired of fighting for a decent means of living. It’s hell for us here,” Jadhav said.
Hidden growth of leased datacentres
Amazon’s significant datacentre presence in Mumbai largely operates through “colocation” or leased server space, making their facilities less visible than those directly owned and managed. This model is contributing heavily to the rapid rise in datacentre energy consumption globally, as highlighted by computing expert Shaolei Ren of the University of California, Riverside.
As demand for cloud services grows—particularly driven by the AI revolution—India is expected to surpass both Japan and Australia to become the second-largest datacentre electricity consumer in the Asia-Pacific region.
Looking ahead
Mumbai’s struggle illustrates the broader tension facing many rapidly modernizing cities: balancing economic growth and technological progress with urgent climate and public health commitments. With datacentre energy needs set to increase dramatically, the pressure on coal plants and the health of vulnerable communities like those in Mahul will intensify.
Without decisive energy policy reforms and accelerated investments in clean energy and infrastructure, Mumbai risks entrenching an environmental and public health crisis at the heart of its technological transformation.
Photographs by NurPhoto/Getty Images and Bloomberg/Getty Images. Reporting by Luke Barratt, Atika Rehman, and Sushmita. Published by The Guardian on November 24, 2025.
