Top global CEOs meet PM Modi, reaffirm investment, expansion in India

New Delhi, Dec 9 (IANS) Tech leaders, including Cognizant's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Ravi Kumar S, Intel's CEO Lip-Bu Tan, and Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, assuring investment and further expansion of their operations in India.  

Cognizant stated that they assured the PM that the company is committed to expanding in emerging cities within the country and will continue to promote growth and talent development.

"Our CEO, @imravikumars, along with Rajesh Varrier, Chairman & Managing Director, Cognizant India, had the distinct privilege of meeting with the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, @narendramodi, for an inspiring conversation on accelerating AI adoption and advancing education and skill development to enhance AI capabilities and productivity," Cognizant posted on its official X handle.

"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," the tech giant added.

Intel CEO Tan stated that he had a deep discussion with PM Modi on various aspects related to technology. The tech leader said that, during the meeting, he appreciated the effort that the Prime Minister is putting into having a robust domestic semiconductor design and manufacturing ecosystem.

"Honoured to meet Prime Minister @narendramodi in New Delhi this afternoon. We had a wide-ranging discussion on a variety of topics related to technology, computing and the tremendous potential for India," the Intel CEO said in a post on X.

"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 signalled a strong commitment to deepening its investments in India’s semiconductor ecosystem. It signed an MoU with the Tata Group, which enables the manufacturing, assembly, and packaging of Intel-designed products at Tata Electronics’ upcoming Fab and OSAT 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.

Earlier, Microsoft Chairman and CEO Nadella met the Prime Minister.

Following the meeting, Microsoft announced investing $17.5 billion in India over the next four years (2026-2029) to drive AI diffusion in the country.

"Today we are announcing our largest investment in Asia — $17.5 billion over four years (CY 2026 to 2029) — to advance India’s cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, skilling and ongoing operations. This investment builds on the $3 billion investment announced earlier this year, which we are on track to spend by the end of CY2026," Microsoft said in a statement.

Nadella, upon meeting, thanked PM for an encouraging meeting on AI opportunities in the country.

"Thank you, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for an inspiring conversation on India’s AI opportunity. To support the country’s ambitions, Microsoft is committing US$17.5B—our largest investment ever in Asia—to help build the infrastructure, skills, and sovereign capabilities needed for India’s AI-first future,” Nadella said in a post on X.

Responding to Nadella's post, PM Modi wrote, "When it comes to AI, the world is optimistic about India!"

"Had a very productive discussion with 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 posted.

--IANS

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