Microsoft to invest $3 bn in AI, cloud expansion in India

Bengaluru: Microsoft will invest USD 3 billion (about Rs 25,700 crore) to expand its cloud computing and artificial intelligence capabilities in India, its chief executive officer Satya Nadella said on Tuesday.

The tech giant will also train 10 million people in AI skills in India by 2030, Nadella said, addressing a conference attended by startup founders and executives from technology firms here.

Nadella is the latest in the list of tech tycoons to have visited India - the nation of 1.4 billion people that is emerging as an AI battlefront.

Chip maker Nvidia chief Jensen Huang, AMD's Lia Su and Meta chief AI scientist Yann LeCun had in recent months visited India, home to millions of programmers and technology services providers like Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys and Wipro.

Nadella said the USD 3 billion investment in India would be the "single-largest expansion" done in the country. "The diffusion rate of AI in India is exciting."

He, however, did not give a time frame for the spending.

Microsoft provides its cloud computing services under the Azure brand name. It has over 60 Azure regions comprising more than 300 data centres.

"In India, we are excited about all the regions that we have. We have Central India, South India, West India, and South Central India. We also have the capacities that we built up with Jio. We have a lot of regional expansion happening," Nadella said.

When Nadella last visited India in February 2024, he announced the company would provide 2 million people in the country with AI skilling opportunities by 2025, focused on training individuals in smaller cities and rural areas.

The Microsoft Chairman also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday in New Delhi.

Nadella said the Prime Minister shared his vision on the artificial intelligence mission, India stack, and entrepreneurial aspirations in the country, among others.

He had posted a picture of the meeting on X, formerly Twitter, and said, "Excited to build on our commitment to making India AI-first".

Prime Minister Modi responded, saying he is "glad to know about Microsoft’s ambitious expansion and investment plans in India".

Nadella said that after a few years, there will be discussion around correlation between GDP growth in any country and even at company level for their own growth on efficiency levels derived between energy consumed per token per dollar.

"We are building world-class AI infrastructure. This is golden for systems when it comes to innovation," Nadella said.

He said that the company is doing a lot of regional expansion in India.

"India is rapidly becoming a leader in AI innovation, unlocking new opportunities across the country. The investments in infrastructure and skilling we are announcing today reaffirm our commitment to making India AI-first, and will help ensure people and organisations across the country benefit broadly," Nadella said.

He said that Microsoft's mission to empower every person and organisation in India drives the company.

"To that end, it is about being able to ensure that the human capital of this country is able to continue to scale and take advantage of the immense opportunity and potential the technology has. That's why we are very excited to announce today our commitment, which we have always had, to train 10 million people around AI skills by 2030," Nadella said.

Microsoft has been pouring billions of dollars into expanding its AI infrastructure and data centre network across the globe. It had last week unveiled plans to invest about USD 80 billion in AI data centres this year.

In his last visit, the Microsoft chairman highlighted the pivotal role of India's developer community in building cutting-edge products and solutions that solve challenges for the nation and can be deployed around the world.

He had then launched Microsoft’s new skilling investment in India to empower people and organisations to thrive in the AI era. The investment will see Microsoft provide 2 million people in India with AI skilling opportunities by 2025 through its Advanta(I)ge India initiative to provide 2 million people in India with AI skilling opportunities by 2025.

Nadella had also announced the expansion of the Code; Without Barriers programme to India for skilling and certification to 75,000 women developers in 2024.