Aug 6 (Reuters) - Microsoft ( MSFT ) launched its largest

India data center in Hyderabad on Thursday and has signed up

Adani Group and HDFC Bank among early users as it races rivals

for the country's fast-growing AI market.

The India South Central facility brings Microsoft's ( MSFT ) cloud

regions in India to four, adding to existing centers in Pune,

Chennai and Mumbai, and cementing its position as the country's

largest cloud-computing provider,

The Windows maker has committed about $20.5 billion to

expand its India opreations, betting on a market of more than 1

billion internet users and one of the world's deepest pools of

tech talent.

Here are more details:

* Azure, Microsoft's ( MSFT ) cloud-computing arm, has posted

double-digit revenue increases in India for the last two years,

the company said.

* Microsoft ( MSFT ) also operates two data centers in the South

Asian nation with Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Jio.

* Creating value with AI "requires trusted infrastructure

close to where data lives, teams work and decisions are made,"

said Microsoft India President Puneet Chandok, adding the new

facility "is a critical part of that foundation"

* Rivals Alphabet and Amazon ( AMZN ) are also

pouring money into data center capacity in India, drawn by the

country's large potential pool of AI users.

* Not all of those efforts have gone smoothly.

Environmentalists have accused authorities of fast-tracking a

planned Google data center hub in India without weighing risks

to water supplies and wildlife, allegations the government

rejects.