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Microsoft plans $1 billion data center in northwest Indiana

A government building in downtown Indianapolis has a sign across its top that reads "Indiana A State that Works"
FILE PHOTO: Justin Hicks
/
IPB News
Microsoft is the fourth major tech company to announce in 2024 its plans to invest in data centers in Indiana.

Gov. Eric Holcomb announced Tuesday that Microsoft plans to invest $1 billion on a new data center in northwest Indiana.

Microsoft plans to build the data center in La Porte. The investment, which will support the company’s cloud computing infrastructure, is expected to bring only about 200 jobs within the next eight years.

With its announcement, Microsoft becomes the fourth major tech company this year saying it will invest big money in Indiana. Meta plans an $800 million data center in Jeffersonville, Google a $2 billion facility in Fort Wayne, and Amazon an $11 billion investment in data centers in Saint Joseph County.

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Likely part of what’s luring such investments: those companies are all eligible under state law for a sales tax exemption of up to 50 years on the equipment they buy for their data centers.

Brandon is our Statehouse bureau chief. Contact him at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.

Brandon Smith has covered the Statehouse for Indiana Public Broadcasting for more than a decade, spanning three governors and a dozen legislative sessions. He's also the host of Indiana Week in Review, a weekly political and policy discussion program seen and heard across the state. He previously worked at KBIA in Columbia, Missouri and WSPY in Plano, Illinois. His first job in radio was in another state capitol - Jefferson City, Missouri - as a reporter for three stations around the Show-Me State.