Microsoft has unveiled a historic $17.5 billion investment in India for 2026-2029, building on the $3 billion committed earlier in 2025. This marks the company’s largest-ever investment in Asia, following a high-impact meeting between Satya Nadella and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. PM Modi expressed that he was “happy to see India being the place where Microsoft will make its largest ever investment in Asia.” The company’s investment priorities are clear: scale, skills, and sovereignty.

A significant portion of the investment will power India’s rapidly expanding AI and cloud ecosystem. This includes the new India South Central cloud region in Hyderabad, set to launch in mid-2026 with three availability zones. Microsoft will also strengthen its existing regions in Chennai, Hyderabad, and Pune, while rolling out sovereign cloud solutions aligned to India’s regulatory needs. By late 2025, Microsoft 365 Copilot will begin processing sensitive sector data locally.

Microsoft is integrating AI into public platforms such as e-Shram and the National Career Service, enabling multilingual access, job matching, and automated résumé generation for over 310 million informal workers. Puneet Chandok, President of Microsoft India & South Asia, emphasized that the investment aims to convert “India’s AI ambition into impact for every citizen,” reinforcing the nation’s move toward AI-driven public infrastructure.