The India South Central region, which became generally available on August 6, joins Microsoft's existing regions in Pune, Chennai and Mumbai. The new datacentre region is being positioned as a strategic hub for Asia and the Global South.
The Hyderabad region is part of Microsoft's $20.5-billion investment commitment in India and features a three-zone architecture designed to provide resilience and support future expansion. The region is already live, with additional Azure and AI services expected to be introduced over the coming months.
Puneet Chandok, President of Microsoft India and South Asia, said the facility will expand Microsoft's sovereign public cloud foundation in India, offering local capacity and data residency options in line with MeitY's Digital Personal Data Protection framework and sector-specific expectations from institutions including the RBI and CERT-In.
Organisations including Adani Group, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC Bank and PB Pay have already signed up for the new region.
Chandok highlighted that India generates around 20 per cent of the world's data but has only about 3 per cent of global data centre capacity. He noted that the country has about 2 GW of data centre capacity, which is set to rise to 6–7 GW by 2035, with over $100 billion in investments already committed.
In Telangana, Microsoft's Data Center Academy is being delivered in partnership with Young India Skills University and the Telangana government, and is designed to train students in datacenter operations and infrastructure management.
Microsoft said more than 10 million Indians have already received AI skills training, with the company targeting 20 million people by 2030.
The India South Central region operates with zero-water cooling, using high-efficiency mechanical systems that do not use water for cooling , part of the company's broader sustainability goals, including its target of becoming carbon negative, water positive and zero waste by 2030.
Microsoft is also supporting regional connectivity through the planned 3,600-km India-Southeast Asia submarine cable system, which will connect India with Malaysia and Singapore, with planned landing points at Machilipatnam and South Chennai, targeted for service in 2029.
