The Telangana government reaffirmed its commitment to being a global innovation hub during a pivotal meeting with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, Ministers Uttam Kumar Reddy and Shanti Kumari, and Special Chief Secretary for ITE&C Jayesh Ranjan joined the discussion, emphasising the state’s focus on fostering partnerships with key global players such as Microsoft to drive digital transformation.
A central topic of the meeting was Microsoft’s data centre expansion near Hyderabad, which is slated for completion by 2025. Telangana leaders stressed the importance of this project in boosting the region’s digital infrastructure, positioning the state as a leader in emerging technologies.
“This expansion is a key step in reinforcing our state’s digital infrastructure, ensuring we remain a global leader in emerging technologies and continue to drive forward the digital transformation of the region,” said Sridhar Babu Duddilla, Cabinet Minister of IT and Electronics, Telangana, in a recent social media post.
Telangana's AI Ambitions
The meeting comes on the heels of Telangana's recent initiatives in AI. In September 2024, the state hosted the Global AI Summit, where the State signed 26 Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with prominent global tech companies such as OpenAI, Meta, NVIDIA, AWS, and Microsoft, as well as Indian organisations such as Yotta Data Services and CDAC.
These agreements span seven key sectors, focusing on areas such as computing infrastructure, centers of excellence, skill development, startup innovation, generative AI, research collaboration, and data annotation.The state is also building an AI city near Telangana.
Earlier this year when Nadella visited India, he announced Microsoft's ADVANTA(I)GE INDIA initiative, which aims to provide AI skilling opportunities to 2 million people in India by 2025.
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