Microsoft Says Its Biggest Data Centre in India Will Be Operational by Mid-2026

Microsoft's biggest data centre in India is on track to open by mid-2026, its country head said on Tuesday, ​as the tech giant spends heavily to bolster its position in ‌one of the world's largest markets for artificial intelligence services.

There's "massive demand" for Azure cloud services and the $30-a-month Copilot 365 AI assistant in the country, Puneet Chandok, president of Microsoft India ​and South Asia, told Reuters.

Like rivals Alphabet and Amazon, Microsoft sees India ​as a potentially profitable market for AI thanks to its ⁠more than 1 billion internet users and deep tech talent.

Tapping that market is ​crucial as it looks to prove to investors that its massive bet on ​AI will pay off.

The company announced late last year that it would invest $17.5 billion in India, its biggest outlay in Asia, on top of the $3 billion pledged at the start ​of 2025.

That includes a new data centre in the southern tech hub ​of Hyderabad, where Microsoft already has a significant presence.

"We are the ones who are bringing ‌this to ⁠life quickly, the fastest out of the gates," Chandok said of the company's data centre build-out, adding that the Hyderabad facility would be its biggest in India without disclosing exact capacity.

The new capacity will serve a growing customer ​base for AI services ​in India. Microsoft ⁠counts IT giants Infosys, Cognizant, and Tata Consultancy Services among Copilot customers, with about 50,000 licenses each.

Chandok also said ​the India operations are contributing to the AI features Microsoft is ​rolling out ⁠globally. The company employs more than 22,000 people in the country across cities.

Hiring staff to develop the features is getting tougher as demand exceeds supply, causing a "war ⁠for ​talent," Chandok said. "The challenges in India are the ​same as everywhere else in the world."

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