Microsoft announces fourth India cloud region in Hyderabad; facility to support AI workloads

Microsoft on Monday announced its fourth cloud region in India, with the technology major setting up the India South Central region in Hyderabad as it expands its hyperscale cloud infrastructure in the country.

Puneet Chandok, President, Microsoft India and South Asia, said the Hyderabad region will add to the company’s existing cloud regions in Pune, Chennai and Mumbai. The new facility will also become Microsoft’s second strategic hub in India and one of its largest investments in the country in terms of computing capacity.

Hyderabad region to have three availability zones

The India South Central region will have three availability zones and is being developed to support artificial intelligence workloads from day one. The expansion comes as demand for computing infrastructure increases amid the rapid adoption of AI applications and services.

Chandok said the Hyderabad facility has been designed to require effectively zero water for cooling. He said water consumption and electricity sourcing have emerged as two key considerations for data centre infrastructure globally, particularly as computing requirements increase.

The company is also building infrastructure aimed at improving its environmental footprint as it expands its data centre presence in India.

Microsoft has contracted 1 GW of renewable energy

Microsoft has contracted 1 GW of renewable energy capacity in India, of which 630 MW is already flowing, Chandok said. The company is also building 5 million litres of groundwater replenishment capacity.

Microsoft has committed to becoming carbon negative, water positive and zero waste. Chandok said the company’s infrastructure strategy includes measures to replenish water resources alongside the expansion of computing capacity.

India data centre capacity may expand six-seven times

India currently has around 2 GW of data centre capacity, according to Chandok. He expects the country’s capacity to expand six to seven times by 2035 as demand for computing infrastructure rises.

The anticipated growth is expected to be supported by increasing AI workloads, which require significant computing capacity and supporting infrastructure. Microsoft’s Hyderabad region will add to its existing cloud footprint as demand for such capacity expands in India.