India stands at a pivotal moment in its AI journey, one defined by impact at scale, determined to lead. As technology becomes a catalyst for inclusive growth and economic transformation, the country is emerging as a frontier AI nation. Against this backdrop of bold ambition and accelerating innovation, Microsoft has announced its largest investment in Asia; US$17.5 billion over four years (CY 2026 to 2029) to advance the country’s cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, skilling, and ongoing operations. This investment builds on the US$3 billion investment announced earlier this year, which they are on track to spend by the end of CY2026.
Microsoft Announcement follows Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella’s meeting with the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, ahead of our India AI tour. In their meeting, both leaders discussed the country’s AI roadmap and growth priorities. Microsoft’s investment in India focuses on three pillars—scale, skills and sovereignty—aligned with the Prime Minister’s vision of building a comprehensive ecosystem that drives AI innovation and access at a national scale.
Together, Microsoft and India are poised to set new benchmarks and drive the country’s leap from digital public infrastructure to AI public infrastructure in the coming decade. They are shaping a future that is more equitable and uniquely Indian in its scale and impact.
INDIA’S AI INFRASTRUCTURE BACKBONE
One of the key priorities of our investment is building secure, sovereign-ready hyperscale infrastructure to enable AI adoption in India. At the heart of this effort is the significant progress being made at the India South Central cloud region, based in Hyderabad that is set to go live in mid-2026. This will be Microsoft's largest hyperscale region in India, comprising three availability zones — roughly equivalent in size to two Eden Gardens stadiums combined.
Microsoft will also continue to expand three existing operational data center regions in Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune. This expansion provides organizations across India greater choice and resilience, enabling low-latency, mission-critical performance for enterprises, startups, and public sector institutions.
