UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Data centre capacity in the country has increased from about 375 MW in 2020 to around 1500 MW by 2025

Q1. With reference to the data centre hubs identified by MeitY in the context of India's capacity growth to about 1500 MW by 2025, consider the following locations. Which of the above is/are correctly identified as a data centre hub?

  1. Jamnagar
  2. Noida
  3. Kochi
  4. Bengaluru
  • A. 1 and 3
  • B. 1, 2 and 4
  • C. 2 and 3
  • D. 1, 3 and 4

Q2. In official reporting that India's data centre capacity grew from about 375 MW (2020) to around 1500 MW (2025), the figure expressed in megawatts (MW) most precisely denotes which one of the following?

  • A. The aggregate electrical/IT power load that the data centres are built to support
  • B. The total built-up floor area of the data centres
  • C. The cumulative data storage capacity available in the data centres
  • D. The total number of servers installed in the data centres

Q3. Which one of the following has been designated as the lead implementing arm for rolling out the common compute capacity (GPUs) under the IndiaAI Mission?

  • A. IndiaAI Independent Business Division (IBD) under Digital India Corporation
  • B. Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC)
  • C. National Informatics Centre (NIC)
  • D. Software Technology Parks of India (STPI)

Q4. Consider the following statements comparing the infrastructure status of data centres with the draft National Data Centre Policy. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. In Union Budget 2022-23, data centres (along with energy storage systems) were added to the harmonised master list of infrastructure.
  2. The draft National Data Centre Policy targets an additional 2000 MW of data centre capacity by 2027.
  3. The National Data Centre Policy has already been notified, thereby removing the need for the infrastructure-status route.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 1 and 2 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q5. Which one of the following is the nodal Union ministry for data centre policy and the IndiaAI compute initiative?

  • A. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology
  • B. Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications
  • C. Ministry of Commerce and Industry
  • D. Ministry of Power

Q6. In TRAI's 2022 recommendations on a regulatory framework for the data economy, the proposed Data Centre Incentivization Scheme (DCIS) is best described as which one of the following?

  • A. A scheme offering fiscal and non-fiscal incentives for setting up data centres and data centre parks
  • B. A licensing regime requiring every data centre to obtain a unified licence from DoT
  • C. A mandatory data-localisation rule requiring all personal data to be stored within India
  • D. A tariff order fixing the electricity price payable by data centres

Q7. Consider the following statements regarding how TRAI's 2022 recommendations treat data centres, content delivery networks (CDNs) and interconnect exchanges (IXPs) differently. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. TRAI recommended that CDNs be registered with the Department of Telecommunications.
  2. TRAI recommended that IXPs be brought under a separate authorisation within the unified licence framework.
  3. TRAI recommended that every data centre must be exclusively owned by the Central Government.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 1 and 2 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q8. Consider the following cooling technologies. Which of the above is/are correctly identified as advanced cooling technologies being adopted by Indian data centres to reduce water use?

  1. Direct-to-chip liquid cooling
  2. Immersion cooling
  3. Adiabatic cooling
  4. Cryogenic liquid-nitrogen cooling
  • A. 1, 2 and 3
  • B. 1 and 4
  • C. 2, 3 and 4
  • D. 1, 2, 3 and 4

Q9. With reference to the sustainability profile of data centres in India, consider the following statements. Which of the above is/are NOT correct?

  1. Data centres are both power-intensive and water-intensive facilities.
  2. Traditional cooling methods can consume large volumes of water annually per MW of capacity.
  3. Hyderabad and Chennai have been cited as water-stressed data centre locations.
  4. Adopting advanced cooling technologies increases the water footprint of data centres.
  • A. 1 only
  • B. 4 only
  • C. 3 and 4
  • D. 2 and 4

Q10. As of 2025, how many countries had the Central Government notified as 'restricted' for cross-border transfer of personal data under Section 16 of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023?

  • A. None
  • B. 12
  • C. 27
  • D. 56

Q11. Under the data centre policy framework, India-specific standards for data centre construction and certification are to be developed by which one of the following bodies?

  • A. Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)
  • B. Standardisation Testing and Quality Certification (STQC) Directorate
  • C. Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC)
  • D. National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL)