New Delhi, Oct. 22 -- Google's recent $15 billion investment in a Visakhapatnam data centre is a shrewd bet on India emerging as a major player in the digital infrastructure business. But it is also a warning to Indian tech companies that they, once again, risk playing second fiddle if they are not proactive.

A decade ago, India was poised at the forefront of the cloud revolution, boasting a deep pool of engineers, a growing market, and explosive data generation. Yet, lacking in ambition, its IT giants treated cloud merely as a service add-on rather than a strategic imperative. While global hyperscalers poured fortunes into building the digital economy's backbone, Indian companies were content with taking a small bite. Today, the country...