A proposed data centre in Thane’s Balkum area has drawn opposition from local residents over its location in a residential neighbourhood, with questions raised about water consumption, energy use, noise pollution, heat emissions and safety. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray said he has written to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis seeking attention to the concerns.
Thackeray said residents had taken a firm position against an artificial intelligence data centre being permitted in the middle of a residential area. He raised the issue in a post on X and said several questions about the project remained unanswered.
The proposed facility has brought into focus the planning and infrastructure requirements of data centres, which can require substantial electricity and cooling capacity. In his communication to the chief minister, Thackeray questioned the location of the project and asked why it could not be moved to an MIDC zone designated for “Red Category” industries.
He also asked under which policy the builder had been permitted to bring the data centre to the proposed location. “Will the government listen only to builders? Will it continue to ignore citizens’ concerns to protect the builder’s interests?” he asked.
The dispute places the project within a wider urban governance question: how land-use permissions for large, energy-intensive facilities are assessed when they are proposed near established residential areas. The report does not provide details of the project’s developer, capacity, power requirement, construction timeline or the specific approvals granted for the Balkum site.
Thackeray alleged that the data centre could worsen Thane’s water problems. He said the administration would continue supporting builders and vested interests and would not halt projects that he described as harmful to the city and its residents. These claims were made in his public statement and have not been independently detailed in the report.
The political dimension of the dispute is also linked to Thane’s local power structure. The city is described as the stronghold of Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who has been a political rival of the Thackerays since the 2022 split. The report, however, does not include a response from Shinde, the state government, Thane civic authorities or the project developer.
The immediate next step identified in the report is Thackeray’s letter to the chief minister. Any decision on the project’s location, approvals or continuation will depend on the response from the state government and the authorities responsible for land-use and development permissions in the area.
