Microsoft to invest $17.5 billion in India, says CEO Satya Nadella

American tech giant Microsoft’s chief executive officer (CEO) Satya Nadella on Tuesday announced the company’s plan to invest $17.5 billion in India’s artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure over the course of the next four years.

 

Posting a photo with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on X, Nadella said, "Thank you, PM Narendra Modi, for an inspiring conversation on India’s AI opportunity. To support the country’s ambitions, Microsoft is committing $17.5 billion — our largest investment ever in Asia — to help build the infrastructure, skills, and sovereign capabilities needed for India’s AI-first future."

 

Nadella, who is on a four-day visit to India, met PM Modi on Tuesday. 

 

Responding to Nadella's post, PM Modi said, "When it comes to AI, the world is optimistic about India!"

 

"Had a very productive discussion with Satya Nadella. Happy to see India being the place where Microsoft will make its largest-ever investment in Asia. The youth of India will harness this opportunity to innovate and leverage the power of AI for a better planet," he added.

 

How does Microsoft plan to invest in India?

In a separate statement, Microsoft said that the latest commitment, spread across calendar years 2026 to 2029, would “advance the country’s cloud and AI infrastructure, skilling and ongoing operations”, building on the $3 billion investment announced earlier this year.

 

"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. We are shaping a future that is more equitable and uniquely Indian in its scale and impact," the company said.

 

"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 our largest hyperscale region in India, comprising three availability zones — roughly equivalent in size to two Eden Gardens stadiums combined," the company said, adding that it also plans to expand its three existing operational data centre regions in Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune.

 

Apart from the expansion of Microsoft’s cloud and AI capabilities, the investment will focus on skilling initiatives and ongoing operations across its India workforce of more than 22,000 employees. These teams, the company said, contribute to product engineering, model development and innovation across its AI stack, while powering data centre operations and supporting customers nationwide.

 

The announcement comes as global tech giants step up their India operations, looking to capitalise on the country’s 1.4 billion-strong population and rapidly expanding digital economy. Earlier this year, Google also announced a $15 billion investment between 2026 and 2030 to build an AI hub and a gigawatt-scale data centre in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.  According to CBRE, investment in India’s data centre sector is projected to cross $100 billion by 2027.