New Delhi – Microsoft’s largest data centre in India is set to open by mid-2026, with the technology company racing to establish a dominant position in one of the world’s fastest-growing artificial intelligence markets.
Puneet Chandok, president of Microsoft India and South Asia, told Reuters on Tuesday that there is “massive demand” for the company’s Azure cloud services and its $30-a-month Copilot 365 AI assistant across the country.
The new facility is located in Hyderabad, a southern Indian city already home to a significant Microsoft presence, and will be the company’s biggest data centre in India. Chandok declined to disclose the exact capacity of the facility. 
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“We are the ones who are bringing this to life quickly, the fastest out of the gates,” he said.
Microsoft announced late last year that it would invest $17.5 billion in India, its largest outlay anywhere in Asia, on top of a further $3 billion pledged at the start of 2025. The Hyderabad data centre is part of that broader investment push.
The company is competing with rivals Alphabet and Amazon for a share of India’s AI market, which is driven by more than one billion internet users and a deep pool of technology talent.
Among Microsoft’s Copilot customers in India are IT giants Infosys, Cognizant and Tata Consultancy Services, each holding around 50,000 licences.
Chandok said India’s operations are also feeding into AI features Microsoft is rolling out globally. The company employs more than 22,000 people across Indian cities. However, he warned that hiring is becoming increasingly difficult as demand for skilled workers outpaces supply.
“The challenges in India are the same as everywhere else in the world,” Chandok said, describing the situation as a “war for talent.”
