Amazon, Microsoft pledge mega AI investments in India

Microsofts Satya Nadella (left) and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos (right) are bullish on India

Tech giants Amazon and Microsoft have announced a combined $52.5bn (£39.4bn) investment plan for India over the coming years.

Amazon said on Tuesday it was pumping in $35bn into India by 2030 to advance AI-driven digitisation, export growth and job creation, a day after Microsoft committed $17.5bn strengthen the countrys AI ecosystem.

India, which is an emerging AI and cloud infrastructure hub, has witnessed a surge of global tech investments recently.

In October, Google announced a $15bn investment to build an AI data hub, and earlier this week Intel announced a collaboration with Mumbai-based Tata Electronics as its first major customer in the latters $14bn semiconductor manufacturing plans.

When it comes to AI, the world is optimistic about India, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a post on X, after meeting Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on Tuesday.

Amazons $35bn investment will build on the $40bn already invested in India - establishing the company as the largest foreign investor in India, the company said in a statement.

A key component of it will go into local cloud and AI infrastructure.

Microsofts fresh commitment follows a $3bn investment announced by the company earlier this year.

It includes a new hyperscale cloud region - a cluster of data centres - in the southern Indias Hyderabad city, set to go live in mid-2026, the company said in a statement.

Data centres are centralised physical facilities that host computer servers, IT infrastructure and network equipment, and are a key component of the AI value chain that India is focusing on despite concerns around water shortages.

India will also be given access to Microsofts sovereign public cloud, which offers tools to help organisations run their data and applications while keeping sensitive information within the country.

The India investment is part of Microsofts $23bn AI expansion across countries including Canada, Portugal and the UAE, as the company vies with rivals such as Amazon and Google.

In a statement Microsoft said it also aims to integrate AI into Indian government platforms, supporting around 310 million informal workers.

The announcements come as India steps up activity in semiconductor manufacturing, with several state-backed and private projects aiming to build a domestic chipmaking industry.

While India is a big market for AI - with a billion internet users and a big tech talent pool - it still lags behind global leaders like China and the US.

However, the country has been drawing billions in investments in key computing technologies such as chips, with the governments semiconductor mission offering generous subsidies to firms setting up chip-making facilities.

Indias sovereign AI model is also expected to be unveiled in February next year.