Microsoft unveils fourth data center in India

Silhouettes of laptop and mobile device users are seen next to a screen display of the Microsoft logo in this photo illustration on March 28, 2018. REUTERS / Dado Ruvic / Illustration

NEW DELHI, March 7 (Reuters) – Microsoft Corporation (MSFT.O) It unveiled its fourth data center in India on Monday, a bet on increasing digital consumption in one of its fastest growing markets.

Microsoft India President Anant Maheshwari said the company is making long-term investments in the country, though he declined to confirm local media reports of a $2 billion price tag for the newest hub.

“A public cloud data center is not a one-time investment, it is an ongoing investment for us,” Maheshwari told Reuters. “In the past two years, we have doubled the capacity in our existing three data centers.”

The total Indian public cloud services market is expected to reach $10.8 billion by 2025, according to research firm IDC.

The Indian government is urging foreign tech companies to store more of their data locally, a move seen as an attempt by New Delhi to gain stricter oversight of big tech companies.

Maheshwari said Microsoft is continuing to increase its workforce in India from the current 18,000 “through the pandemic and moving forward.”

“We are already serving more than 340,000 businesses in the country,” Maheshwari said.

The new data center is located in the southern Indian state of Telangana.

Maheshwari said the company’s business model, which relies on partners to build additional services on its cloud platform, Azure, has generated around $10 billion in business in the past five years.

Contestants join the race in India. Prime rival Amazon announced in late 2020 that it would spend $2.8 billion to build its second data center in the country, while Adani Group announced plans last year to build six data center parks across the country.

(Monsef Fengatel reports from New Delhi). Editing by Jane Wardle

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