Satya Nadella's India Return: AI Push Amid $15B Google Rivalry

The India-born tech leader will travel to Delhi, Bengaluru, and Mumbai as part of his tour, during which he is expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, and other senior government officials.

Nadella will start his visit in Delhi on December 10, move to Bengaluru on December 11, and conclude in Mumbai on December 12. This will be one of his several visits to India in recent years as Microsoft continues to expand its presence and strengthen its position in the fast-growing cloud and AI services market.

During his earlier visit in January this year, Nadella had announced a $3 billion investment to build cloud and AI infrastructure in India and to support skilling programmes.

At that time, he said India was becoming a global leader in AI innovation and stressed that Microsoft wanted to help make the country “AI-first.” The company also said it would train 10 million more Indians in essential AI skills by 2030.

Microsoft had already exceeded its 2025 target by training 2.4 million people within a year, with a majority of participants coming from Tier-II and Tier-III cities and 65 per cent of them being women.

Rival Google has also announced a major push in India, with a $15 billion investment to set up a state-of-the-art AI hub in Visakhapatnam.

The build-up to Nadella’s visit saw another important meeting on Tuesday, when Commerce and Industries Minister Piyush Goyal met Lisa Monaco, President of Microsoft Global Affairs.

After the meeting, Goyal posted on X that the discussion focused on Microsoft’s continued engagement in India and its support for AI-led innovation and infrastructure development.

He added that both sides also explored ways to strengthen the India–US partnership in AI, digital trade, and workforce skilling to ensure inclusive and sustainable growth.

- IANS