Microsoft commits $17.5 billion to India to scale AI and cloud infrastructure nationwide

Microsoft said it will invest $17.5 billion in India over four years beginning in 2026, its largest outlay in Asia, to expand cloud and AI infrastructure, workforce training and operations. The plan, atop a previously announced $3 billion slated to be spent by end-2026, includes launching a new India South Central cloud region in Hyderabad by mid-2026—positioned to give Microsoft the country’s largest hyperscale footprint—and expanding existing regions in Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune. The company will introduce sovereign cloud options tailored to Indian compliance requirements and will process Microsoft 365 Copilot data within India by late 2025. Microsoft also said it will help embed AI into the government’s e-Shram and National Career Service platforms, supporting job matching and services for more than 310 million informal workers. The company doubled its skilling target to 20 million people by 2030, noting 5.6 million trained since January 2025. Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to align on what Microsoft called priorities of “scale, skills and sovereignty.”

Read more