Microsoft Commits $17.5 Bn to Advance India’s AI Ambition

Microsoft has announced a $17.5 billion investment in India over four years (2026–2029) to expand cloud and AI infrastructure, skilling programmes and ongoing operations. 

This marks the company’s largest investment in Asia. This is in addition to the $3 billion announced earlier in 2025. 

The announcement followed Microsoft chairman and CEO Satya Nadella’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the company’s India AI tour. Microsoft said the new investment is aligned with three priorities — scale, skills and sovereignty.

The tech giant has also doubled its commitment to equip 20 million Indians with AI skills by 2030. Through its ADVANTA(I)GE India initiative, the company claims to have trained 5.6 million people since January 2025 and enabled over 125,000 individuals to secure jobs or pursue entrepreneurship opportunities.

“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,” posted PM Modi in a post on X.  

He further said that the youth of India will harness this opportunity to innovate and leverage AI to build a better planet.

Union Minister for Electronics & IT Ashwini Vaishnaw said the investment signals India’s rise as a reliable technology partner for the world and will support the country’s move from digital public infrastructure to AI public infrastructure.

Puneet Chandok, president of Microsoft India and South Asia, said the company aims to translate India’s AI ambitions into “impact for every citizen.” He added, “Building on the $3 billion investment announced in January 2025, our new $17.5 billion commitment and deep partnership across India’s technology ecosystem are focused on turning India’s AI ambition into impact for every citizen.”

Expansion of AI and Cloud Infrastructure

A significant part of the investment will support the India South Central cloud region in Hyderabad, scheduled to go live in mid-2026. Microsoft said this will be its largest hyperscale region in the country, comprising three availability zones. The company will also expand existing regions in Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune.

Microsoft’s existing 22,000 employees across Indian cities contribute to product development, engineering, AI research and datacenter operations, the company noted.

AI Integration Into Public Platforms

The company also announced new AI integrations for the Ministry of Labour and Employment’s e-Shram and National Career Service (NCS) platforms. The initiative aims to benefit more than 310 million informal workers by supporting multilingual access, AI-assisted job matching, predictive analytics and automated resumé generation through Azure OpenAI Service.

It said that e-Shram, built on Microsoft Azure, has already helped expand social protection coverage in India from 24% in 2019 to 64% in 2025, according to ILO estimates.

Sovereign Cloud Offerings

The company also introduced Sovereign Public Cloud and Sovereign Private Cloud for customers in India. These offerings include Sovereign Landing Zones, governance controls, and support for connected and disconnected operations through Azure Local. 

Additionally, Microsoft 365 Copilot will begin processing data within India by the end of 2025 for sectors requiring in-country data compliance.

Microsoft stated that its expanded infrastructure, AI adoption support and skilling programmes will help build a national ecosystem for “innovation, trust and opportunity,” positioning India to advance its AI capabilities at a population scale.

The post Microsoft Commits $17.5 Bn to Advance India’s AI Ambition appeared first on Analytics India Magazine.