Despite a push for AI technology, India’s cloud spending falls below global average | Tech News

India’s Cloud expenditure lags behind global average despite AI push

India’s expenditure on cloud is significantly lower than the global average, despite the country’s efforts towards digitization and embracing new technologies like artificial intelligence. However, there is a silver lining as companies, both global and Indian, are ramping up investments in building large cloud infrastructure and data centers to meet the growing demand.

According to Statista Market Insights, the global average spend on public cloud service per employee in CY2024 is projected to be $196.80. In contrast, India’s average expenditure per employee on public cloud service is expected to be only $17.53, which is just one-eleventh of the global average. Other countries that India competes with on the global business stage, such as Brazil, Malaysia, and Mexico, also have higher expenditures on cloud service per employee.

Despite the lower expenditure, India’s revenues from cloud are projected to reach $9.9 billion in 2024, accounting for 1.4% of the global total. The bulk of the expenditure is expected to be in the US, with China lagging far behind with a 10% share. Brazil, Vietnam, Mexico, and Malaysia also have smaller shares compared to India.

Indian and global companies are aggressively building public infrastructure to support cloud services. For example, Amazon Web Services announced a $12.7 billion investment by 2030, while Adani Group signed an agreement with the Maharashtra government to invest ~50,000 crore in the next 10 years to build hyperscale infrastructure in the state. CrtlS Datacenters is also investing $2 billion in the next six years to expand in India and Southeast Asia.

Overall, despite the current lag in expenditure, the future looks promising for India’s cloud industry as investments and infrastructure development are on the rise.