Goyal, Microsoft India prez discuss data centres, advancing AI mission

Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal met Microsoft India President Puneet Chandok to discuss expanding data centre capacity and advancing the 'India AI Mission'. The meeting comes as Microsoft plans a USD 17.5 billion investment in India.

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal met Microsoft India and South Asia President Puneet Chandok and discussed expanding data centre capacity and advancing the India AI Mission, as India seeks to strengthen its infrastructure for artificial intelligence.

“India is emerging as a preferred destination for global tech investment. Discussed expanding data centre capacity and advancing the 'India AI Mission' to make India a trusted global partner in AI,” the Office of Piyush Goyal said in a post on X.

Microsoft Investment and IndiaAI Mission

The discussions come as Microsoft is expanding its cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure in India. In December 2025, Microsoft announced plans to invest USD 17.5 billion in India over four years from 2026 to 2029 towards cloud and AI infrastructure, skilling initiatives and its operations in the country. The investment is in addition to an earlier USD 3 billion commitment announced by the company.

Microsoft has also been expanding its data centre footprint in the country. In August this year, the company announced the general availability of its India South Central cloud region in Hyderabad, taking its operational cloud regions in India to four.

The meeting also comes against the backdrop of the government's push to expand domestic AI computing infrastructure under the IndiaAI Mission. The IndiaAI Mission was approved in March 2024 with an outlay of Rs 10,371.92 crore over five years to develop the country's AI ecosystem, including computing infrastructure, indigenous AI models, datasets, startup support and skills.

More than 38,000 graphics processing units (GPUs) have been onboarded under the mission's common compute facility to provide AI computing resources to startups, researchers and academic institutions. The government has also announced plans to add another 20,000 GPUs to expand national AI computing capacity.

Strengthening India-Uruguay Relations

Separately, Goyal also met Uruguay's Minister of Foreign Affairs Mario Lubetkin and discussed strengthening economic engagement between the two countries and taking forward India's partnership with MERCOSUR.

“Held a productive meeting with Mr. Mario Lubetkin, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay,” Goyal said in a post on X. “Discussed ways to deepen India-Uruguay trade & investment ties, build on our economic complementarities and take the India-MERCOSUR partnership forward,” he added.

MERCOSUR is a South American trade bloc, with India having an existing preferential trade agreement with the grouping. (ANI)

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