Microsoft, Amazon Announce $52.5B in Investments to Drive India AI Plans

Tech giants Microsoft and Amazon this week revealed plans for a total of $52.5 million in fresh investments targeting artificial intelligence capabilities in India.

Microsoft on Tuesday announced that it would spend $17.5 billion over four years to advance cloud and AI infrastructure, training and ongoing operations in the world’s most populous country. The sum represents Microsoft’s biggest Asia investment and comes on top of $3 billion committed to India earlier this year, the company said in a release.

At the heart of the effort is the Hyderabad-based India South Central data centre, set to go live in mid-2026 as Microsoft’s largest hyperscale region in the country. The software titan also plans to continue expanding its three existing operational data centre regions in Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune, it said.

“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,” said Microsoft India president Puneet Chandok. “This transformation is anchored on three pillars: hyperscale infrastructure to run AI at scale, sovereign-ready solutions that ensure trust, and skilling programmes that empower every Indian to not just join the future but shape it.”

Top Foreign Investor

Also Tuesday, Amazon unveiled a plan to invest more than $35 billion across all its businesses in India through 2030, focusing on business expansion and the three strategic pillars of AI-driven digitisation, export growth and job creation.

The amount builds on the $40 billion invested by Amazon in India to date — including compensation to employees and the development of infrastructure — making the e-commerce goliath the largest foreign investor in the nation, Amazon said in a release.

Amazon’s India commitment includes building physical and digital infrastructure such as fulfilment centres, transport networks, data centres and digital payment systems, with the company expecting to support 3.8 million direct, indirect, induced and seasonal jobs by 2030.

“We have invested at scale in growing the physical and digital infrastructure for small businesses in India, creating millions of jobs, and taking Made-in-India global,” said Amit Agarwal, senior vice president for emerging markets at Amazon.

Tech Heavyweights Jump In

In January, Microsoft chairman and CEO Satya Nadella disclosed plans for the company to invest $3 billion to develop data centres and other digital infrastructure in his home country. He said the company aimed to train 10 million people over five years to help accelerate AI innovation in India.

Nadella’s announcement came three months after The Hindu reported that Amazon was buying land near Mumbai for a data centre to serve Amazon Web Services’ generative AI applications.

More recently, ChatGPT maker OpenAI has been scouting local partners to set up a data centre with at least one gigawatt of capacity, Bloomberg reported in September. In October, Google detailed plans to invest $15 billion building an AI infrastructure hub in southern India over the next five years.