Microsoft plans to invest $3 billion on AI, cloud infrastructure in India

Summary
The company plans to grow the company’s Azure cloud business in India and set up new data centers.Microsoft plans to spend $3 billion over the next two years to expand its cloud and artificial-intelligence infrastructure in India, the latest in a string of investment pledges by U.S. tech giants amid booming AI computing needs.
Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella said at an event in Bengaluru, India, on Tuesday that the investment marks the company’s single largest expansion in the country to date.
The company plans to grow the company’s Azure cloud business in India and set up new data centers. It is also aiming to train 10 million locals with AI skills by 2030.
Nadella made the announcement as part of his visit to the country. He had met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday and discussed the company’s investment plans.
The U.S. company currently has three data-center clusters in India, with a fourth in the works, as well as capacity built with telecommunications company Jio, a subsidiary of Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries, according to Microsoft.
The company plans to invest $80 billion in AI data centers in its current fiscal year ending in June, according to a blog post by Microsoft President Brad Smith last Friday.
Spending $80 billion on data centers would continue the trajectory set in Microsoft’s first quarter that ended last September, when it spent $20 billion on capital expenditures and leases, primarily for data centers.
Revenue for the tech giant’s Azure cloud business—a core element of its AI offering—rose 33% in its fiscal first quarter.
Write to Kimberley Kao at kimberley.kao@wsj.com