From Satya Nadella to Lip-Bu Tan: Top tech CEOs meet PM Modi, back India's AI, semiconductor mission

The CEOs of some top tech companies met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Tuesday. They promised a huge investment to help build the country's artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and support the semiconductor mission. Among the tech leaders who met the Prime Minister were Microsoft's Satya Nadella, Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, and Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar. 

After meeting the Prime Minister, Nadella announced $17.5 billion investment in India, Microsoft's largest ever investment in Asia. 

The prime minister, in a tweet, said that when it comes to AI, the world is optimistic about India. "Had a very productive discussion with Mr. Satya Nadella. Happy to see India being the place where Microsoft will make its largest-ever investment in Asia. The youth of India will harness this opportunity to innovate and leverage the power of AI for a better planet," he added. 

Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, too, said that he had a wide-ranging discussion on a variety of topics related to technology, computing, and the tremendous potential for India. "I applaud the Prime Minister for putting in place a comprehensive semiconductor design and manufacturing policy, and Intel is committed to supporting the India Semiconductor Mission," he added. 

Intel has signaled a strong commitment to deepening its investments in India's semiconductor ecosystem. Earlier today, the Santa Clara-headquartered firm signed an MoU with the Tata Group, which enables manufacturing, assembly, and packaging of Intel-designed products at Tata Electronics' upcoming Fab and OSAT (Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test) facilities, along with collaboration on advanced semiconductor packaging in India. 

Through this partnership, in which Tata will provide manufacturing and packaging capabilities, Intel will be able to localise key parts of its supply chain. This will help accelerate India's goal of becoming a global semiconductor hub, and support growing local demand. It is in line with the Prime Minister's vision of Make in India for the World.

Cognizant's Ravi Kumar said that he had an inspiring conversation on accelerating AI adoption and advancing education and skill development to enhance AI capabilities and productivity. "Our CEO also reaffirmed to the Prime Minister Cognizant's continued commitment to India and apprised him of our plans to expand into emerging cities to promote equitable growth and talent development," Congnizant posted on X. 

Microsoft's $17.5 bn investment in India

Microsoft today announced its largest investment in Asia - $17.5 billion over four years to advance India's cloud and AI infrastructure, skilling, and ongoing operations. This investment builds on the US$3 billion investment announced earlier this year, which we are on track to spend by the end of CY2026.