Microsoft has launched its fourth cloud region in India, located in Hyderabad. This expansion aims to meet the growing demand for cloud and AI services in the country.
Named India South Central, the new region joins existing ones in Pune, Chennai, and Mumbai. It features a three-zone architecture designed for resilience and future growth. Microsoft plans to introduce additional Azure and AI services over time.
India South Central serves as a strategic hub for Asia and the Global South. It is part of Microsoft’s $20.5 billion investment in India, focusing on cloud and AI infrastructure.
All of Microsoft’s cloud regions in India now include AI-capable hardware and high-efficiency cooling systems. The Hyderabad region was specifically built to support AI workloads from the outset.
The new region also caters to organizations requiring data sovereignty by keeping sensitive workloads within India. Customers can deploy these workloads using controls that meet security, compliance, and data residency requirements.
Microsoft’s India cloud regions comply with MeitY guidelines and other relevant data protection and cybersecurity standards, including the Digital Personal Data Protection framework.
Major organizations like the Adani Group, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC Bank, and PB Pay have already signed up for the Hyderabad region.
Microsoft has adopted a waterless cooling design for the new region, relying on high-efficiency mechanical cooling.
The Hyderabad launch aligns with India‘s efforts to expand its data center capacity for AI applications. Microsoft aims to provide local infrastructure for workloads requiring cloud capacity, data residency, and resilience.
This expansion builds on Microsoft’s previous $3 billion commitment over two years, bringing its total investment in India to $20.5 billion.
The move responds to rising demand for computing infrastructure driven by the adoption of generative and enterprise AI. Industry estimates project India’s data center development could generate $140 billion to $200 billion in economic output by 2030.
With the Hyderabad region operational, Microsoft now has four cloud regions in India, covering the north, south, and west of the country. The company will gradually add Azure and AI services as capacity expands.
