The e-commerce group said Thursday that Amazon plans to invest $12.7 billion in its cloud business in India by 2030, as it pushes ahead to expand AWS infrastructure in a key overseas market at a time when it has scaled back several other services in the region.
The US giant, which earlier invested $3.7 billion in AWS infrastructure in India and currently maintains two data center regions in the South Asian market, said its spending will support 131,700 full-time jobs across roles such as engineering, communications and construction.
Thursday’s announcement is a significant escalation in the initial AWS strategy. The cloud giant said earlier that it will invest $4.4 billion on AWS in the South Asian economy.
India, the second largest Internet market in the world, has seen a surge in cloud computing adoption across various industries in recent years, reflecting the strong growth of the sector. Amazon’s cloud division holds a dominant position in the market, with a list of high-profile clients such as India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Axis Bank, HDFC Life, BankBazaar, Niti Aayog, PhysicsWallah, and Acco.
Google, which also has two cloud regions in India, and Microsoft, which maintains three, have expanded their cloud business in the country in recent years. India’s public cloud service market is expected to reach $13 billion by 2026, according to researcher IDC.
AWS is committed to driving positive social and economic impact in India. In addition to building cloud infrastructure and helping local customers and partners transform digitally, we’ve trained more than four million people in India in cloud skills since 2017, and invested in six utility-scale renewable energy projects to achieve our global 100% renewable energy goal, said Puneet Chandhuk. , Business Leader, AWS India and South Asia, in a statement: By 2025.
He added that the planned investment in AWS will help create “more beneficial multiplier effects, supporting India on its path to becoming a global digital powerhouse.”
India is a major overseas market for Amazon, pumping more than $6.5 billion into e-commerce for the country in the past decade. The triple increase in AWS investment also exceeds the company’s spending on – and commitments to – its e-commerce space.
The announcement also comes amid Amazon closing several companies in India, a move that has many analysts wondering if the US giant is reducing its presence in the country. Wal-Mart, Amazon’s global competitor, has also spent more than $2.5 billion in India this year.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Digital India vision is driving the expansion of cloud and data centers in India,” said Rajeev Chandrashekhar, India’s Minister of State for Electronics, Information Technology, Skills Development and Entrepreneurship.
“India’s cloud and data center core infrastructure are important components of India’s digital infrastructure and ecosystem. I welcome Amazon Web Services’ $12.7 billion investment to expand their datacenters in India. It will certainly stimulate India’s digital economy. MeitY is also working on a policy Datacenter and cloud to drive innovation, sustainability and growth of the Indian cloud.”