US-based Amazon has pledged to invest $35 billion by 2030 to expand its operations in India. (REUTERS) Summary Amid a gloom of stock market outflows and a falling rupee, India’s FDI outlook has brightened as Amazon and Microsoft commit billions to our economy. Last year’s collapse in net FDI will hopefully end up as nothing more than a blip. Outflows of “hot money” from India’s stock market and a rapidly weakening rupee may have caused some anxiety this year, but the outlook for foreign direct investment (FDI) has brightened. On Wednesday, US-based Amazon pledged to invest $35 billion by 2030 to expand its operations in India, focusing on its AI capabilities and an export powerhouse. A day earlier, Microsoft revealed a plan to invest $17.5 billion over four years from 2026, with data centers for AI as one of this project’s pillars. Regardless of the rhetoric, this need not help India jump ahead in the field of AI, for which we need our own R&D, although osmotic effects may spell domestic gains. That said, all FDI is welcome for the local trade it boosts and the jobs it generates. Amazon, for example, promises a million new jobs. New commitments should also ease concerns about a slump in net FDI, which has fallen below the $1 billion mark in 2024-25. This year should see a recovery, as Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra recently pointed out, thanks to a drop in repatriation even as outward FDI has risen. With Big Tech looking India’s way, last year’s dismal performance is likely to turn out to be a blow.