The Digester
Week 50, Thursday

Amazon, Microsoft pledge $52.5bn for AI and cloud expansion in India

Amazon will invest $35bn by 2030 and Microsoft committed $17.5bn as both firms back local cloud, AI infrastructure and services including a new hyperscale region in Hyderabad.

  • Combined investment equals $52.5bn with Amazon pledging $35bn and Microsoft $17.5bn.
  • Amazon says the $35bn builds on $40bn already invested in India and targets AI driven digitisation, exports and jobs.
  • Microsoft will open a hyperscale cloud region in Hyderabad planned for mid 2026 and expand its sovereign public cloud offering for India.
  • Microsoft said it aims to integrate AI into government platforms and support about 310 million informal workers.
  • The moves follow other major bets in India including Google’s $15bn AI data hub and Intel’s collaboration on Tata Electronics’ $14bn semiconductor plans.
  • India is attracting cloud, AI and chip investments while still trailing leaders like the US and China in compute capacity.
  • Regulators and planners note data centre growth raises concerns about local water use and infrastructure needs, and India plans a sovereign AI model expected in February 2026.

Sources

bbc.com