Microsoft eyes more India data centres, AI talent hiring

Microsoft will keep investing in artificial intelligence-ready data centre infrastructure in India beyond 2026, and continue hiring artificial intelligence (AI) engineers to build value-added solutions, said its top India executive.

- Shouvik Das

“As part of our $3 billion investment plan through this year and the next, our Hyderabad data centre—one of the largest in the region—is set to go live by June 2026. This will add to our data centre hubs in Mumbai, Pune and Chennai, as well as two Jio-Azure regions (with Reliance Industries) in Maharashtra and Gujarat,” said Puneet Chandok, president of Microsoft India and South Asia.

“All our data centres are Already, and this is where we've invested so far. But, our investments are not episodic—they are structural. We'll continue to invest more, and we'll dive deeper into these investments next week.”

Chandok spoke exclusively to ‘Mint ahead of Microsoft's global chief executive and chairman Satya Nadella’s India tour from 10-12 December.

Nadella is expected to make key announcements around AI infrastructure.

On 14 October, Google, in partnership with domestic conglomerate Adani Group and telecom major Airtel, announced a $15 billion investment to builda 1 gigawatt (GW) AI data centre in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.

Chandok declined to comment on Microsoft's direct competitors.

He also does not expect the influx of AI to reduce Microsoft’s net hiring in India.