Microsoft on Thursday, 6 August announced the general availability of its India South Central cloud region in Hyderabad, expanding its cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure footprint to four regions across the country. The launch arrives as enterprise demand for AI and cloud services accelerates across Indian industries.

Four Regions, Widest Hyperscale Footprint

With the Hyderabad facility now operational, Microsoft's India cloud map covers Central India in Pune, South India in Chennai, West India in Mumbai, and India South Central in Hyderabad. The company additionally operates two datacenters in partnership with Jio, giving it what it describes as the largest hyperscale cloud presence in the country.

Infrastructure Design and Compliance

The new datacenter region comprises three Availability Zones and has been engineered with a resilient architecture aligned to India's regulatory and seismic-zone requirements. Microsoft said the facility is built to support mission-critical workloads at scale, while giving customers the choice to run eligible Microsoft Cloud services entirely from within Indian borders — a significant compliance consideration for regulated sectors such as banking, insurance, and healthcare.

Early Customers and Azure Growth

Several large enterprises are already using the new region through early-access programmes. Named customers include Adani Group, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC Bank, and PB Pay. Microsoft said Azure has recorded strong double-digit growth in India over the past two years, and expects that momentum to accelerate now that the Hyderabad region is live.

The Investment Backdrop

The Hyderabad launch is part of a broader capital commitment to India. Microsoft announced a $3 billion investment in January 2025, followed by a far larger $17.5 billion commitment in December 2025, both directed at expanding cloud and AI infrastructure across the country. Cumulatively, that represents one of the largest technology infrastructure bets by a global hyperscaler in India to date.

What Microsoft Said

Puneet Chandok, President of Microsoft India and South Asia, said trusted digital infrastructure close to where data resides and decisions are made is essential for organisations looking to translate AI experimentation into long-term business value. The Hyderabad facility, he indicated, is designed to be a cornerstone of that transition for Indian enterprises.

As AI workloads grow more compute-intensive and data-sovereignty regulations tighten, the race among hyperscalers to deepen India presence is set to intensify further.