Amazon upstages Microsoft’s India bet with $35-billion pledge

Amazon's $35 billion India investment come a day after Microsoft's $17.5 billion pledge (Image created by Google's Nano Banana Pro)

Amazon has a history of outshining its rivals when it comes to writing big cheques in India.

In July 2014, when e-commerce marketplace Flipkart announced a $1 billion mega fundraise, Amazon one-upped it within 24 hours with plans to invest $2 billion in the India market.

Eleven years later, it has done something similar, whether by coincidence or not.

Just a day after Microsoft announced a $17.5 billion investment in the country through 2029, the e-commerce giant unveiled plans to invest more than $35 billion in India through 2030, double the amount that Microsoft committed. This marks an expansion of its earlier $26 billion commitment made in 2023, which includes a $12.7 billion investment in cloud and AI infrastructure by 2030.

To be sure, Microsoft's investment is aimed squarely at accelerating artificial intelligence (AI) adoption, while Amazon's plans are broader and include business expansion and export-led growth. That said, the two remain fierce archrivals, locked in a battle for cloud computing dominance, fueled by the growing demand for AI offerings.

These moves follow Google's $15 billion investment in setting up a large-scale AI hub in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh in October.

Microsoft's India plans

Yesterday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella stated that the investment will be used to help build the "infrastructure, skills, and sovereign capabilities needed for India’s AI first future".

A key priority is the upcoming datacentre in Hyderabad, slated to go live in mid-2026. The software giant says it will be the company's largest hyperscale region in India, roughly equivalent in size to two Eden Gardens stadiums combined.

Read: India’s ‘virtuous cycle’ for tech involving policy, market is “magic”, says Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella

Microsoft also introduced its sovereign cloud offerings for Indian customers and said it will double its skilling commitment to train 20 million people in AI skills by 2030. The company is also integrating advanced AI capabilities into e-Shram and the National Career Service (NCS), two key digital public platforms of the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

Amazon's India investment priorities

Meanwhile, Amazon plans to invest $35 billion across three key areas, focusing on AI-driven digitisation, export growth, and job creation alongside its broader business expansion.

Amit Agarwal, SVP of Emerging Markets at Amazon, said the tech giant has invested $40 billion across its businesses over the past fourteen years, from 2010 to 2024. He added that the company has digitized ten million small businesses and reached $20 billion in cumulative exports.

Amazon has also supported 2.8 million direct and indirect seasonal jobs across technology, operations, logistics, and customer support, the company stated.

“Based on the investments that we have made, and the pledges that we have achieved, Amazon is the largest foreign investor in the country, it is the largest creator of exports in the country and one of the largest creator of jobs in the country,” Agarwal said.

Amazon's AI push in India

Amazon plans to use the investment to roll out AI-powered shopping experiences for consumers and new tools for small businesses. This includes the visual discovery feature LensAI and the conversational shopping assistant Rufus for consumers, along with AI-powered tools such as Seller Assistant and Next Gen Selling for small businesses.

By 2030, the company plans to generate an additional 1 million direct, indirect, induced, and seasonal jobs and quadruple cumulative ecommerce exports to $80 billion by 2030.

It also aims to help four million government school students with AI education and career exploration opportunities through AI curriculum, technology career tours, hands-on AI sandbox experiences, and teacher training programmes.

Amazon Web Services (AWS), the company's cloud unit, currently operates two cloud regions in India, one in Mumbai and another in Hyderabad. In January, Amazon said it would invest $8.3 billion in cloud infrastructure in the AWS Asia-Pacific (Mumbai) Region in Maharashtra, as part of the $12.7 billion investment.