Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella appears at an event with tech CEOs and senior officials, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the East Room of the White House in Washington on June 22, 2023.
Chris Kleponis | CNP | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Microsoft on Tuesday announced it would invest $17.5 billion in India’s cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure, making it the U.S. tech giant’s largest investment in Asia.
The company said that the investments, aimed at expanding hyperscale infrastructure, embedding AI into national platforms, and advancing workforce readiness, will be spread over 4 years, building on its $3 billion pledge made in January.
The announcement follows a meeting between Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in which the two discussed India’s AI ambitions. Modi met with other tech CEOs on Tuesday too including Intel‘s Lip-Bu Tan.
In a post on social media, Nadella thanked Modi and said that Microsoft’s investments would “help build the infrastructure, skills, and sovereign capabilities needed for India’s AI first future.”
The move comes as India attempts to catch up on AI, with Modi emphasizing building a comprehensive tech ecosystem and AI sovereignty. The country has also recently attracted data center investment pledges of $15 billion from Google and $8 billion from Amazon Web Services.
“The youth of India will harness this opportunity to innovate and leverage the power of AI for a better planet,” Modi said in a post on X, referring to Microsoft’s investment.
Microsoft’s investments give it a “first‑mover advantage in GPU‑rich data centers while making Azure the preferred platform for India’s AI workloads,” said Tarun Pathak, Research Director at Counterpoint Research. This aligns with New Delhi’s AI public infrastructure push, he added.
Microsoft plans to use the funds to scale up its existing cloud and AI infrastructure to serve customers across regions in India. It now provides “Sovereign Public Cloud” and “Sovereign Private Cloud” services in several regions.
The company added that it was doubling its January commitment to train 20 million Indians in AI by 2030, with hopes to grow and skill its more than 22,000 employees in the country.
Microsoft also announced on Tuesday that it would be integrating its Azure AI capabilities into two key digital public platforms of India’s Ministry of Labour and Employment and the National Career Service.
India’s Union Minister of Electronics & Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw called the investment a signal of India’s rise as a reliable global technology partner, accelerating the shift from digital to AI public infrastructure.
While India lags far behind global leaders in advanced technologies like chips and AI, the country’s massive consumer market and public funding have attracted major tech players.
Under its “India Semiconductor Mission,” the country has approved 10 chip projects with total investments of over $18 billion.
On Monday, American chip designer Intel signed a deal with Mumbai-based Tata Electronics aimed at collaborating on chip offerings in the country, including on products for AI applications.
