Microsoft is set to bring its biggest data centre in India into operation by the middle of this year, Reuters reported, as it seeks to capitalise on potentially lucrative AI demand in the country.
The company, like other large tech firms, is spending heavily on data centres and other AI infrastructure around the world, and is under pressure to show that its tens of billions in expenditures will show a return.
Microsoft said last year it would spend $17.5 billion (£13bn) in India, its largest investment in Asia, in addition to $3bn in spending it had announced earlier in the year for the country.
Hyderabad complex
The new data centre in Hyderabad is being built as part of Microsoft’s spending plan.
India is seen as a potentially large market for cloud and AI services, with its more than 1 billion internet users and large pool of tech talent.
Puneet Chandok, Microsoft’s president for India and South Asia, told Reuters there was “massive demand” for Azure cloud services and paid Copilot AI subscriptions in India.
He said Microsoft was “the fastest out of the gates” with AI and said the Hyderabad facility was Microsoft’s largest, without indicating its capacity.
Major AI clients
Microsoft’s Copilot customers in India include Infosys, Cognizant and Tata Consultancy Services, each with about 50,000 licences each, according to the report.
Microsoft’s more than 22,000 staff in India are contributing to AI development, although Chandok said that as in other parts of the world, there is a “war for talent” as demand outstrips supply.
