NEW DELHI: Microsoft on Tuesday announced a landmark investment of USD 17.5 billion in India over the next four years, marking its largest-ever commitment in Asia. The investment will significantly expand India’s AI and cloud infrastructure, workforce skilling, and operational capacity.
The announcement came shortly after Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss India’s AI roadmap and digital growth priorities. The new commitment builds on the USD 3 billion investment announced earlier this year, set to be fully deployed by 2026.
With this expansion, Microsoft will establish its largest hyperscale cloud region in India, scheduled to go live in mid-2026. The company said the effort aligns with India’s goal of building a national-scale AI ecosystem driven by scale, skills and data sovereignty.
Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw welcomed the move, calling it a signal of India’s rise as a trusted global technology hub, adding that the partnership would accelerate the transition from digital infrastructure to AI infrastructure.
Puneet Chandok, President of Microsoft India & South Asia, said the investment reflects the company’s commitment to supporting India’s AI-first future. “Our USD 17.5 billion commitment and deep partnership across India’s technology ecosystem are focused on turning India’s AI ambition into impact for every citizen,” he said.
A key component is the development of the India South Central cloud region in Hyderabad, which will include three availability zones and become Microsoft’s largest hyperscale region in the country. The company will also expand existing data centers in Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune, ensuring low-latency services for enterprises, startups and government projects.
Microsoft also announced integration of AI tools into the Ministry of Labour and Employment’s e-Shram and National Career Service platforms, benefiting more than 310 million informal workers through multilingual support, job matching, predictive analytics and automated resume building.
On the skill-development front, Microsoft will train 20 million Indians in AI by 2030, doubling its commitment under the ADVANTA(I)GE India initiative. Since January 2025, 5.6 million people have already been trained, leading to over 125,000 job and entrepreneurial opportunities.
Microsoft is also introducing Sovereign Public Cloud and Sovereign Private Cloud solutions for compliant, secure deployment of AI workloads. Microsoft 365 Copilot will support in-country data processing by late 2025, making India among the first to receive the feature.
With rapidly expanding hyperscale infrastructure, national AI integrations and a massive skilling push, Microsoft said India is positioned to become a global leader in the AI era — powered by scale, skilling and sovereignty.
