NEW DELHI: Microsoft announced on Tuesday that it will invest $17.5 billion in India between 2026 and 2029 to accelerate the country’s AI adoption, marking its largest investment in Asia. Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed the move, saying India’s youth will “harness this opportunity to innovate and leverage the power of AI for a better planet.”
According to Microsoft, the new commitment builds on the $3 billion investment announced earlier in 2025, which is expected to be fully deployed by the end of 2026. The latest announcement followed a meeting between PM Modi and Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella, who is in India for an AI-focused tour.
Nadella described India as a nation with immense AI potential. “To support the country’s ambitions, Microsoft is committing US$17.5B—our largest investment ever in Asia—to help build the infrastructure, skills, and sovereign capabilities needed for India’s AI-first future,” he posted on X. PM Modi responded that the world is optimistic about India’s AI trajectory and praised the company’s decision to deepen its presence in the country.
Microsoft said India is at a decisive point in its AI journey, emerging as a frontier nation aiming for inclusive growth through technology-led transformation. The new investment is structured around three pillars—scale, skills, and sovereignty—aligned with the government’s broader roadmap for national AI leadership.
A key component of the investment is the expansion of cloud and AI infrastructure. Central to this plan is the upcoming India South Central region in Hyderabad, scheduled to go live in mid-2026. Expected to become Microsoft’s largest hyperscale region in the country, it will include three availability zones, together roughly the size of two Eden Gardens stadiums.
Microsoft will also continue expanding its existing data center regions in Chennai, Hyderabad, and Pune to offer improved resilience, low-latency performance, and support for mission-critical workloads across enterprises, startups, and public institutions. The company currently employs over 22,000 people across major Indian cities who contribute to global innovation in areas such as AI agents, Copilot Studio, Azure Machine Learning, AI speech and translation, and hyperscale datacenter operations. (IANS)
Also Read: Nehru followed Jinnah, claiming Vande Mataram could irritate Muslims: Narendra Modi