New Delhi: Microsoft on Tuesday announced its largest-ever investment in Asia — a sweeping $17.5 billion commitment over four years (2026-2029) to expand cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, skilling, and operations in India. The new commitment follows the $3 billion investment declared earlier this year, which the company said it is on track to spend by the end of 2026.
The announcement on X came after Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella met Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the company’s ‘India AI’ tour. The discussion focused on the country’s AI priorities and roadmap.
"Thank you, PM @narendramodi ji, for an inspiring conversation on India’s AI opportunity. 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. @PMOIndia," said Nadella in a post on X.
In response, the PM wrote on X: "When it comes to AI, the world is optimistic about India! Had a very productive discussion with Mr. 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.”
The investment is anchored on three pillars — scale, skills, and sovereignty — aligned with the government’s vision of developing a nationwide AI ecosystem.
Microsoft India and South Asia President, Puneet Chandok said, “Microsoft has been part of India’s fabric for more than three decades. As the nation moves confidently into its AI-first future, we are proud to stand as a trusted partner in advancing the infrastructure, innovation and opportunity that can power a billion dreams… Building on the $3 billion investment announced in January 2025, our new $17.5 billion commitment… is focused on turning India’s AI ambition into impact for every citizen.”
Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister of Electronics & Information Technology, said, “As AI reshapes the digital economy, India remains committed to innovation anchored in trust and sovereignty. Microsoft’s landmark investment signals India’s rise as a reliable technology partner for the world. This partnership will set new benchmarks and drive the country’s leap from digital public infrastructure to AI public infrastructure.”
Hyper-scale Cloud
A significant portion of the new investment will support the rollout of secure, sovereign-ready hyper-scale cloud and AI infrastructure. The Microsoft statement said the ‘India South Central’ cloud region in Hyderabad — set to go live by mid-2026 — will be the company’s largest hyper-scale region in the country, spanning three availability zones.
Microsoft will make its largest-ever investment in Asia to help build the infrastructure, skills, and sovereign capabilities needed for India’s AI first future, said CEO Satya Nadella. (Photo: Microsoft Website)
Microsoft will also expand its existing data centre regions in Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune to provide enterprises, startups and public sector institutions with enhanced resilience and low-latency performance.
Microsoft also announced deeper integration of AI capabilities into national digital public platforms, beginning with the Ministry of Labour and Employment’s e-Shram and National Career Service (NCS).
Built on Azure, the upgraded platforms will bring multi-lingual access, AI-assisted job matching, predictive analytics, and automated resumé creation to more than 310 million informal workers.
The statement said the collaboration strengthens India’s digital public infrastructure and accelerates AI adoption “at population scale”.
Skilling Commitment
On workforce development, Microsoft said it is doubling its January 2025 skilling commitment, now aiming to equip 20 million Indians with AI skills by 2030. Through the ADVANTA(I)GE India initiative, the company has already trained 5.6 million people since early 2025, enabling more than 125,000 individuals to secure jobs or entrepreneurial opportunities.
Reinforcing the sovereignty pillar of its strategy, Microsoft has introduced new Sovereign Public Cloud and Sovereign Private Cloud offerings for Indian customers. These solutions will support compliant, secure, high-performance deployment environments across regulated sectors, including government, banking and healthcare.
Microsoft also reaffirmed that Microsoft 365 Copilot will provide in-country data processing in India by the end of 2025, making India one of the first global markets to receive the capability.
The tech giant said its expanded commitment reflects a long-term partnership with India to build an innovation-driven, trusted AI ecosystem. Through hyper-scale infrastructure expansion, AI-enriched public platforms, and nationwide skilling, Microsoft said India is positioned to become a global leader in the AI era “powered by scale, skilling, and sovereignty”.