E-commerce giant Amazon plans to make a mega-investment of $35 billion, over Rs 3.14 lakh crore, in India by 2030 across its businesses with a focus on AI-driven digitization, export growth and job creation, a senior company official said on Wednesday.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on Tuesday announced plans to invest $17.5 billion in India to help build infrastructure and sovereign capabilities for the country's AI-first future, marking the third major AI-driven investment in the country in the past two months. Microsoft said that the $17.5 billion (around Rs 1.58 lakh crore) investment builds on the $3 billion (around Rs 26,955 crore) funding announced earlier this year, which the company is on track to spend by the end of CY (calendar year) 2026.
The future belongs to those who move fast, use AI deeply and focus relentlessly on customer impact.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is promoting India as a global hub for digital infrastructure and artificial intelligence, highlighting the government's incentives for data center investments and inviting the world's data to reside in India.
The government's Budget announcements providing tax holiday for data centres, setting up of city economic regions (CERs) and funding to improve infrastructure in Tier-II and -III cities may give an indirect boost to India's realty sector, said industry executives.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has directed state agencies and public universities to suspend new H-1B visa petitions through May 2027, a move likely to affect Indian professionals. The order comes amid ongoing debate over skilled immigration and potential impacts on academic research and innovation.
The US has replaced random H-1B selection with a wage-weighted lottery and a new $100,000 fee for applications, raising uncertainty for students and junior hires.
...compared with 153,000 in all of 2024.
Budget 2026 sticks to fiscal discipline, shuns populist measures despite five key state elections coming up, but ends up rattling stock markets with a higher transaction tax on derivatives trading.
'The Indian developer community is one of the most vibrant communities.' 'Indian builders are incredibly passionate, curious, and excited to embrace new technologies.'
Asia takes the lead, boasting four Indian cities on the list, according to the 2024 Savills Growth Hubs Index.
'The real story of 2025 is that India officially stopped being a 'market of the future' and started acting as the world's primary economic engine.'
'The danger is that when the music stops, the fall will be sudden, faster, and deeper than anyone expects,' warns Debashis Basu.
India, the world's fourth largest economy, is set to maintain the 'goldilocks' phase with tailwinds of good growth, low inflation and robust banking performance as well as reform initiatives poised to sustain the economic pace witnessed during 2025.
'I don't see how a company like OpenAI can honestly expect to generate revenue significant enough to maintain its spending habits via John and Jane Q. Public,' points out Sree Sreenivasan.
'When AI comes in, coders in Bangalore or Hyderabad will lose their jobs.'
FDI inflows into India are expected to register robust growth in 2026, supported by strong macroeconomic fundamentals, big-ticket investment announcements, sustained efforts to improve the ease of doing business, and a new generation of investment-linked trade pacts.
To prevent the race for superintelligence from going off the rails, OpenAI recommends shared standards and insights from frontier labs, public oversight and accountability proportional to capabilities, building an AI-resilient ecosystem, and reporting and measurement by labs and governments on AI's impact.
Vaniya Agarwal says Friday April 11 will be her last day at Microsoft
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Cognizant and eight other major corporations have been questioned by US Senators for filing thousands of H-1B skilled labour visa petitions after conducting "mass layoffs" of American employees.
The magnitude of the new H-1B visa application fee for fresh petitions - math of which works out to USD 500 million in case of 5,000 filings - may nudge IT companies to expand offshore delivery or increase local hiring, according to Motilal Oswal Financial Services.
'The battle for brain power among Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Nvidia and Tesla and newer AI companies is fierce.' 'Given the race for AI with China, these companies will find it hard pressed to fill that talent gap,' notes an IT professional based in the US.
With a confident new generation of innovators, India now has the scale and self-belief to shape its own digital destiny marked by creation, observes Ajay Kumar chairman, UPSC.
'More and more people from the middle class will become self-employed gig workers mostly working from home, rather than as office workers with salary, promotion, bonuses, etc.'
'Amazon, Meta, Google, Microsoft have large operations in India and rely on smooth trade and data flows.' 'Restrictions could raise their costs, limit AI chip exports, and complicate their India strategies.'
According to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Amazon had 10,044 workers using H-1B visas as of June, 2025. Coming in at the second spot was TCS with 5,505 H-1B visas approved.
'Returning Indians can leverage their international skills and the strong funding environment for start-ups here.'
'As one of many immigrants at Nvidia, I know the opportunities we've found in America have profoundly shaped our lives.'
Who else will take on the might of Microsoft, Google, and Amazon if not the Adanis, Ambanis, Birlas, or Tatas?, asks R Jagannathan.
Nasscom on Monday said the US clarification that the H-1B visa fee hike will not affect current visa holders and will apply as a one-time fee only to fresh petitions has helped address the immediate ambiguity surrounding eligibility and timelines.
'Every parent should rethink their decisions to send their children to the US.'
The Trump administration has announced a massive increase in H-1B visa fees, imposing a $100,000 annual charge that will fundamentally alter how American companies hire skilled foreign workers, particularly impacting Indian IT professionals who comprise the largest group of beneficiaries.
Shift from producing graduates proficient in analysis and strategy to producing graduates capable of initiating, executing, and scaling impactful actions in real-world environments, points out Ajit Balakrishnan.
Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T) is deepening its push into data centres and defence manufacturing while keeping an eye on emerging opportunities in nuclear and thermal power, chairman and managing director SN Subrahmanyan said. The engineering and construction conglomerate has invested around Rs 2,200 crore in data centres, with 32 megawatts (Mw) already operational.
They don't just want better returns -- they're looking for global opportunities, more variety and smarter ways to grow their money, says Soubho Moulik, CEO, Appreciate.
rediffGURU Nayagam PP, career counsellor and the founder of EduJob360, counsels students and aspiring professionals about how they can make the right career decision.
Tech giant Microsoft regained the top spot in the list of best employers to work for in India in 2024, followed by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Amazon, according to a Randstad Employer Brand Research report released on Wednesday. Microsoft had topped the list in 2022, but slipped to fifth in 2023. The 2024 list is based on responses from 3,507 people.
Gen Z, driven by AI anxiety and economic pragmatism, have concerns about pursuing passions as careers as they fear it may not make them enough sufficient income.
Office space owners are looking at good times ahead as rentals are expected to rise due to demand for Grade A office spaces outpacing supply that has been sluggish due to construction delays, long gestation periods and developers' interests shifting to residential.
While IITs have a reputation of their own, companies like Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Adobe prefer IIITs over most NITs for software roles due to their specialised training, says rediffGURU Mayank Chandel.
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