Amazon to invest over $35 billion on Wednesday in India’s cloud and artificial intelligence sector by 2030, as hyperscalers compete to establish a presence in the market.
The commitment, which was announced at the Amazon Smbhav Summit in New Delhi, builds on top of the approximately 40 billion already invested in the country.
Amazon announced in a press statement that the new funds will focus on AI-intensive digitization, export expansion, and job creation, which aligns with the national priorities of India to develop its domestic AI ecosystem.
Amazon projected that the plan will create an incremental 1 million direct, indirect, induced, and seasonal jobs in India by 2030, increase exports to $80 billion by 2030, and bring AI benefits to 15 million small businesses.
IDC’s Regional Head of Research for Big Data & AI, Deepika Giri, informed CNBC that India ranks among the fastest-expanding AI expenditure areas in the Asia Pacific.
“A major gap, and therefore a significant opportunity, lies in the shortage of suitable compute infrastructure for running AI models,” Giri added.
She has further stated that countries across Asia are moving faster to develop sovereign AI capacities as the technology increasingly becomes regional because of trade friction and tariffs, and infrastructure is the key focus of such efforts.
The investment underscores how Amazon is betting on the fast-growing digital economy in India, where it has been developing fulfillment centers, data centers, and payments infrastructure.
It follows after Microsoft declared its plans to invest in AI infrastructure in India $17.5 billion as the major players in Big Tech rapidly enter the sector.
Senior Vice President for emerging markets at Amazon, Amit Agarwal, said that “We are humbled to have been a part of India’s digital transformation journey over the past 15 years.”
He further added that “Looking ahead, we’re excited to continue being a catalyst for India’s growth, as we democratize access to AI for millions of Indians.”
