New Delhi, Jun 18 (KNN) India is poised to become a major force in the global artificial intelligence (AI) landscape, attracting substantial investments from technology giants Microsoft and Amazon.

These companies are pouring billions into computing infrastructure within the country, aligning with India's ambitions to establish itself as a preeminent AI hub.

Microsoft has unveiled plans to invest USD 3.7 billion in the southern state of Telangana to construct data centres providing an impressive 660 megawatts of information technology capacity.

This magnitude of power would be sufficient to meet the annual energy needs of approximately half a million European households. Amazon has also announced its intention to invest USD 12.7 billion in cloud infrastructure across India by 2030.

Recognizing the rapidly expanding technology market and a vast pool of skilled labor, the Indian government has implemented a series of incentives to attract tech companies across various sectors, including electronics manufacturing and data storage.

These initiatives aim to position India as a key consumer and exporter of AI technologies.

Last year, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology released its inaugural "Expert Group Report" outlining a vision for the IndiaAI initiative launched in April 2024.

Key facets of this program encompass fortifying computing infrastructure, enhancing data management through the National Data Management Office, and fostering research, innovation, and targeted skill development.

By leveraging public-private partnerships and prioritising socially impactful AI projects, the IndiaAI initiative seeks to solidify India's status as a global AI powerhouse while maximizing the country's demographic dividend.

These aspirations are bolstered as major tech titans, including Microsoft, Amazon, and Google, have collectively committed to investing USD 85 billion in data centre infrastructure across various nations this year alone.

The concept of "sovereign AI" has significantly increased the demand for local data centres, as governments strive to ensure sensitive information is stored and processed within their borders.

This focus extends to developing AI systems for national defence and security, necessitating local infrastructure.

While the environmental impact of data centres remains a challenge due to their substantial energy and water consumption, India is actively investing in renewable energy sources.

Microsoft, striving to become carbon-negative by 2030, has signed agreements to source clean power from renewable energy companies operating in India.

(KNN Bureau)