US tech giants Amazon and Microsoft have announced cumulative investments of more than $50 billion in India this week, underscoring the country’s emergence as a strategic hub for cloud, AI and deep‑tech growth.
Amazon said on Wednesday it plans to invest more than $35 billion in India by 2030 to expand its operations by boosting artificial intelligence capabilities and increasing exports.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said his company would spend $17.5 billion in India by 2030 to expand its cloud-computing presence in the country.
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The investment would be Microsoft’s largest such investment in Asia and would give the company the biggest share of India’s cloud-computing market.
Microsoft previously announced a $3 billion investment in January to expand its AI and cloud capacity in India.
The investments from Amazon and Microsoft are part of a larger push from major US tech firms to expand their AI investments in India with billions of dollars worth of investments.
In October, Google said it would spend $15 billion over the next five years to build AI data centres in the country — its biggest commitment in the world’s most populous nation.
And in November, US chipmaker Nvidia also joined in with $12 billion of backing to support startups working on advanced technologies, including chipmaking and artificial intelligence.
Data centres are seen as the South Asian country’s best shot at breaking into the AI boom, given that it has limited chip-manufacturing capabilities.
Meanwhile, India, one of the world’s fastest-growing digital markets and fastest-growing major economy, is home to a billion internet users and deep tech talent; all of which make the country a lucrative destination for AI investments.
Amazon competing with billionaire Ambani
Amazon’s investments are “strategically aligned with India’s national priorities and will focus on expanding AI capabilities, enhancing logistics infrastructure, supporting small business growth and creating jobs,” the company said in a statement.
Amazon has ramped up spending in the country to compete with Walmart-backed Flipkart and the retail arm of billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries.
The e-commerce giant, which has invested $40 billion in India since 2010, announced a $26 billion investment in 2023.
Amazon said it plans to create 1 million additional job opportunities in India by 2030. The firm also said it has helped generate more than $20 billion in cumulative exports for sellers in India in the last 10 years, and plans to increase that to $80 billion by 2030.
Microsoft wooing Modi
Meanwhile, the Microsoft spending will “help build the infrastructure, skills, and sovereign capabilities needed for India’s AI-first future,” Nadella said in a post on X, sharing a photo of himself with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Nadella is in the country for a three-day trip for the company’s AI conferences, with events in the capital New Delhi, IT hub Bengaluru and financial centre Mumbai starting on Wednesday.
The investments – the latest big-ticket outlay by technology companies in the high-stakes AI race – come amid a diplomatic standoff between New Delhi and Washington over tariffs and a stalled trade deal.
Microsoft said a new data centre in Hyderabad would be its largest hyperscale region in India and is expected to go live in mid-2026. It will also expand its three existing regions in the states of Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune, and has doubled a January pledge to equip 20 million Indians with essential AI skills by 2030.
Total data centre capacity in India is expected to more than triple to about 4.5 gigawatts by 2030, according to real estate consultancy Colliers. One gigawatt of computing power is roughly enough to power about 750,000 US homes.
Microsoft employs more than 22,000 people in India.
- Reuters, with additional editing by Vishakha Saxena
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