Microsoft Unveils Its Biggest India Data Center Hub Amid AI Boom

Microsoft launched its largest India data center in Hyderabad on Thursday and has signed up Adani Group and ​HDFC Bank among early users as it races ‌rivals for the country's fast-growing AI market.

The India South Central facility brings Microsoft's cloud regions in India to four, adding to ​existing centers in Pune, Chennai and Mumbai, and ​cementing its position as the country's largest cloud-computing ⁠provider,

The Windows maker has committed about $20.5 billion to expand ​its India opreations, betting on a market of more than 1 ​billion internet users and one of the world's deepest pools of tech talent.

Azure, Microsoft's cloud-computing arm, has posted ​double-digit revenue increases in India for the last two ​years, the company said.

Microsoft also operates two data centers in the ‌South ⁠Asian nation with Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Jio.

Creating value with AI "requires trusted infrastructure close to where data lives, teams work and decisions are made," said Microsoft India ​President Puneet Chandok, ​adding the ⁠new facility "is a critical part of that foundation"

Rivals Alphabet and Amazon are also pouring money ​into data center capacity in India, drawn by ​the country's ⁠large potential pool of AI users.

Not all of those efforts have gone smoothly. Environmentalists have accused authorities of fast-tracking ⁠a planned ​Google data center hub in ​India without weighing risks to water supplies and wildlife, allegations the government ​rejects.