Microsoft announces setting up of its fourth data centre in India

Situated in Hyderabad, this will be the Microsoft's largest data centre in the country

Tech giant Microsoft on Monday unveiled its fourth data centre in India. While the company did not disclose the investment or the exact size of the campus, Microsoft said that the fourth DC at Telangana, Hyderabad will be one of the largest data center in India and will be operational by 2025. The company is making an investment of over Rs 15,000 crore over a period of 15 years

The company is making an investment of over Rs 15,000 crore over a period of 15 years for the scaling up and development of the data centre in Telangana. This is the second largest FDI investment in the State said KT Rama Rao, Minister Municipal Administration & Urban Development, Industries & Commerce, and Information Technology, Government of Telangana

Microsoft started its data centre journey in India in 2015 and has data centers in Mumbai, Pune and Chennai. It will offer the entire Microsoft portfolio across the cloud, data solutions, artificial intelligence (AI), productivity tools, and customer relationship management (CRM) with advanced data security, for enterprises, start-ups, developers, education, and government institutions.

The company stated that the data centre will add to the growing demand for Microsoft’s cloud services from both the private enterprises as well as the government sector.

“The cloud opportunity in India is around $10 billion over the next 2-3 years and is growing 20 per cent per annum. But more importantly the impact of data centre on job creation is immense. In India we have about 4.5 lakh Microsoft certified engineers and this centre will also amplify job creation,” said Anant Maheshwari, president, Microsoft India.

Customer demand for cloud as a platform for digital transformation, driving economic growth and societal progress across India, is increasing. According to IDC, Microsoft datacenter regions in India contributed $9.5 billion revenue to the economy between 2016 and 2020. Beyond GDP impact, the IDC report estimated 1.5 million jobs were added to the economy, including 169,000 new skilled IT jobs.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship and Electronics & Information Technology of India shared, “Today’s commitment to the people and businesses of India will position the country among the world’s digital leaders. A Microsoft datacenter region provides a competitive advantage to our digital economy and is a long-term investment in our country’s potential. The cloud is transforming every industry and sector. The investment in skilling will empower India’s workforce today and into the future.”

Business Standard had reported earlier that Microsoft is coming up with a large data centre in Telangana with an overall investment of Rs 15,000 crore. During the media conference, when asked about the investment, Maheshwari added, “A public cloud data centre is not a one time investment, but a continuous investment. We will be adding more capabilities in this data centre as we grow. In the last two years due to pandemic and push for digital transformation we more than doubled our DC capacity.”

In terms of Microsoft’s own expansion plan’s the company stated that they are expanding their Hyderabad campus and the total campus is now spread over 2.5 mn Sq.ft area with 18,000 full time employees. The Hyderabad centre of Microsoft is the largest centre for the tech giant after Redmond. In India Microsoft has 14,000 partners and it serves around 340,000 companies in the country.