Microsoft sets up engineering hub in Noida

Tech giant Microsoft on Monday said it has set up a new development center in Noida, its third such facility in India, that will serve as an engineering and innovation hub for the company. The announcement comes ahead of the visit of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella slated for later this month.

"The center will build on Microsoft's commitment to tap India's world-class engineering talent to create solutions for global impact," Microsoft said in a statement. The India Development Centre (IDC) represents Microsoft's strategy of globally shared development to build products and services for driving digital innovation, it added.

"The IDC-NCR will play a critical role in Microsoft India's expansion and growth story. The facility will open opportunities for thousands of engineers, with plans to expand to a full-fledged development center, similar to IDC facilities in Bengaluru and Hyderabad," the statement said. The company, however, did not disclose the investment being made for setting up the center.

The IDC-NCR will be home to the company's engineering teams across various technology groups, including Microsoft's Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Research Group, Cloud and Enterprise Group, and Experience & Devices Group, along with Core Services Engineering and Operations, the statement said. The IDC-NCR will also house Mixer, Microsoft's live streaming gaming platform team, becoming the first center to host the gaming team outside the company headquarters in Redmond, United States. "We have built a strong engineering presence in India over the past two decades and we are excited to be expanding to Noida," Kurt DelBene, executive vice-president (corporate strategy, core services engineering and operations) and chairman of the IDC advisory board, said.

Rajiv Kumar, managing director at Microsoft India Research and Development, said the center creates opportunities for engineers to do meaningful work that will have an impact across the world. "We are excited to tap into the engineering talent available in this part of the country to create a truly pioneering organization that will build innovative solutions for global impact," he added.

Microsoft India Development Centre is one of Microsoft's largest research and development centers outside the Redmond headquarters. Set up in Hyderabad in 1998, IDC drives Microsoft's strategy of globally shared development to build products and services.