Hyderabad, May 19 (IANS): Microsoft India on Friday announced to make its Azure Cloud services available to eligible non-profit organisations as part of its 'Public Cloud for Good' initiative.

Qualifying non-profits can avail free Azure credits worth $5,000 for a year to unlock benefits such as insight, agility and operational efficiency. 

Globally, Microsoft is donating $1 billion in Cloud computing resources between 2016 and 2018 to 70,000 non-profits and NGOs worldwide, including in India.

"Microsoft has a long-standing commitment to contribute in new and more impactful ways to a societal ecosystem that connects the benefits of technology to those who need it most and work harder to drive inclusion," said Madhu Khatri, Associate General Counsel, Microsoft India, in a statement. 

To drive greater inclusion, Microsoft India partnered with NASSCOM Foundation to organise an "Azure for Good" workshop here. 

Attended by 22 representatives from 12 local non-profits, the workshop highlighted how other organisations in the sector are using the Cloud platform to drive greater impact among communities in the face of constant challenges of limited manpower and resources. 

"We are glad to partner with Microsoft in offering the Azure services worth $5,000 for a year free of cost to the eligible NGOs and are confident that this grant will more than suffice their cloud platform needs," added Shrikant Sinha, CEO, NASSCOM Foundation.