Amazon Web Services (AWS) has unveiled its ambitious plan to invest a staggering Rs 1,05,600 crores (US $12.7 billion) into its cloud infrastructure in India by 2030, in response to the growing demand for cloud services in the country. This massive investment is projected to add Rs 1,94,700 crores (US $23.3 billion) to India's total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2030, said the company.
The investment will go toward enhancing the data center infrastructure in India, which is forecast to support an average of 1,31,700 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs each year in various sectors such as construction, facility maintenance, engineering, and telecommunications, contributing significantly to the data center supply chain in India.
The company said that this investment strategy follows its prior investment of Rs 30,900 crores (US $3.7 billion) from 2016 to 2022. With the forthcoming infusion, AWS's total investment in India will reach Rs 1,36,500 crores (US $16.4 billion) by 2030.
“PM Narendra Modi ji's Digital India vision is driving the expansion of cloud & data centers in India,” said Rajeev Chandrashekhar, the minister of state for electronics and information technology, skill development, and entrepreneurship in India. “India Cloud and the underlying data center infrastructure are vital elements of India's digital infrastructure and ecosystem. AWS's investment will undoubtedly catalyze India's digital economy.”
Puneet Chandok, president of commercial business, AWS India and South Asia, reiterated the company's commitment to contributing to social and economic growth in India. He highlighted AWS's initiative in training over four million people in India with cloud skills since 2017, while also investing in renewable energy projects to meet its global 100% renewable energy goal by 2025.
“Since 2016, AWS has invested billions of dollars into cloud infrastructure in India to support the tremendous growth we have witnessed in the use of cloud for digital transformation,” said Puneet Chandok, president of commercial business, AWS India and South Asia,” Chandok said.
“In addition to building cloud infrastructure and helping local customers and partners digitally transform, we have trained more than four million people in India with cloud skills since 2017, and invested in six utility-scale renewable energy projects to meet our global 100% renewable energy goal by 2025. Our planned investment of Rs 1,05,600 crores (US $12.7 billion) by 2030 will help create more beneficial ripple effects, supporting India on its path to becoming a global digital powerhouse,” he added.
AWS already operates two data center regions in India, the AWS Asia Pacific (Mumbai) Region, launched in 2016, and the AWS Asia Pacific (Hyderabad) Region, introduced in November 2022. These data centers have been designed to offer Indian customers a multitude of options to run their workloads with greater resilience and availability, securely store data in India, and serve end-users with low latency.
The company said it is also actively engaged in numerous social initiatives and skilling programs across India. Since 2017, it has trained more than four million people in India on cloud skills through various programs. These efforts have led to significant digital skill development, new jobs, and digital opportunities across the country.
Furthermore, AWS said that it is committed to driving community development and sustainability initiatives in India. As part of its commitment to The Climate Pledge, Amazon aims to be a more sustainable business, targeting net-zero carbon across its operations by 2040, and powering its operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025.
