Amid growing investments in India's AI sector, Microsoft has announced plans to invest US$3 billion in the country. This substantial investment aims to enhance AI capabilities and expand the reach of Azure services across India.
According to Reuters and Bloomberg, at a January 7, 2025 event in Bangalore, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced that the company intends to invest US$3 billion to enhance its cloud computing and artificial intelligence capacities in India. This strategic move capitalizes on India's significant potential in the AI market owing to its vast population of 1.4 billion and its strong software capabilities, which position the country as a major provider of AI solutions.
Describing the investment as the "single largest expansion" in the country, Nadella also revealed plans to train 10 million people in AI by 2030, adding that the AI diffusion rate in India is exciting.
During his previous visit to India in February 2024, Nadella highlighted Microsoft's commitment to supporting India's transformation into an AI-first country. At the time, he announced that Microsoft would provide 2 million people in India with AI skilling opportunities by 2025 through its ADVANT(I)GE India initiative.
India is one of the leading global economies that is investing significantly in AI to maintain its competitive edge. The country's focus on AI development comes as the demand for sovereign AI intensifies amid growing security concerns.
In 2024, India announced an INR103.72 billion (US$1.25 billion) IndiaAI Mission. The mission includes the IndiaAI Compute Capacity, which involves deploying over 10,000 GPUs through strategic partnerships between the government and private sector.
Microsoft is not alone in investing in India amid the global AI surge. At the Nvidia AI Summit India in October 2024, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang remarked that India possesses the fundamental ingredients to create its AI flywheel. He highlighted that India benefits from a very large population of users and significant computer science expertise, along with having its data. "You exported software, and in the future, India is going to export AI," Huang emphasized.