Every second, millions of Indians stream videos, make digital payments, store photos online and increasingly turn to AI tools for answers. Behind these everyday activities lies an invisible network of servers and data centres that keep the digital world running.
Amazon wants to build more of them.
The company plans to invest $48 billion in India by 2030, turning it into one of Amazon’s largest commitments outside the United States. The investment plan was unveiled by Amazon CEO Andy Jassy during his visit to India. While this may sound like another big corporate investment announcement, the actual story lies in where this money is likely to go and why has India suddenly become one of the wold’s most pivotal technology arena.
Part of the answer lies in the country’s digital transformation. India is home to more than 900 million internet users, the second-largest online population in the world. The number of smartphone users has crossed 750 million, digital payments through UPI regularly exceed 18 billion transactions a month, and the country’s digital economy is projected to contribute nearly one-fifth of India’s GDP by 2030.
But, India’s huge internet population alone doesn’t justify a $48 billion commitment. The bigger picture lies in something most consumers never see.
Every time a business stores data online, a startup trains an AI model, or a customer asks ChatGPT a question, enormous computing power is required behind the scenes. That demand is exploding.
According to IDC (International Data Corporation), India’s cloud market is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of over 20% and could cross $24 billion by 2030. Meanwhile, the country’s artificial intelligence market is projected to expand nearly sixfold over the next decade.
Hence there will be a need to build the digital highways that will support this growth. Amazon has seized the opportunity.
A considerable portion of company’s investment is expected to flow into Amazon Web Services (AWS), its cloud computing arm that already powers thousands of Indian startups, enterprises and government projects. AWS currently operates data centres in Mumbai and Hyderabad, and demand for computing infrastructure has been rising sharply as companies race to adopt AI technologies.
However, Amazon is not the sole player eyeing this market. Earlier this year, Microsoft announced plans to invest around $17.5 billion in India’s AI and cloud infrastructure, while Google has committed billions of dollars toward digital infrastructure and data centre projects in the country. For global technology giants, India is no longer just a market of consumers, it is increasingly becoming a market for infrastructure.
India’s digital economy is expected to touch nearly $1 trillion by 2030. The country is also producing one of the world’s fastest-growing startup ecosystems, with thousands of businesses requiring cloud services, data storage and artificial intelligence capabilities
Amazon says its investments in India have already helped digitise more than 12 million small businesses and supported around 2.8 million jobs. By the end of the decade, the company aims to support 3.8 million jobs and facilitate $80 billion in cumulative exports from India.
Amazon’s $48 billion commitment may have grabbed headlines because of its sheer size. But the bigger story is that one of the world’s largest technology companies believes India’s next chapter will be written not just by consumers, but by the digital infrastructure that serves them.
