Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, is a man on an important mission in his home country, India. He realizes that both Facebook and Google have stepped up their game in India, and this could leave Microsoft in the position of picking up the scraps.

During Nadella’s recent trip to India, the CEO made it clear that Microsoft has every intention to catch up with Facebook and Google in the country. So far, Facebook and Google are waging war for the hearts and minds of every Indian citizen. It’s a battle that will only get even more intense as the months and years go by.

The first shot was fired by Facebook when the company attempted to offer the citizens of India free internet via Internet.org. However, this move did not go according to plan because the Indian government decided to shut it down due to net neutrality concerns.

Facebook returned to the table with Express Wi-Fi, a program that gives citizens the ability to buy data packages on the cheap in order to gain access to the web via local hotspots.

As for Google, the search giant is installing around 400 free Wi-Fi hotspots across India’s railway stations.

It’s now Microsoft’s turn to grab the attention of Indians

In a bid to compete with Facebook and Google for the Indian mindshare, Microsoft is offering students a more streamlined search experience in Bing when it comes down to jobs.

Nadella also spoke with several important business figures in the country, and even promised to build 50 smart villages with the help of the local government.

Now, we see what Microsoft is planning, but what else can the software giant do to better compete with Facebook and Google within India? We’re going to talk about that.

Office 365 for the education sector

There’s no need for Microsoft to create a host of Wi-Fi hotspots in and around India. The company must use its strengths, and so far, Office is the strongest. Having the Office 365 service installed in every school is a great way to get students to gravitate more towards other Microsoft products and services.

Microsoft Azure in the workplace

When compared to the many cloud services available today, only Amazon is ahead of Azure in terms of features and functionality. Google’s own offering is quite capable, but, Facebook has nothing of quality to offer that comes close.

The software giant should take advantage of this and make attempts to push Azure into businesses across India, and even inside the government if possible.

Microsoft HoloLens for science and health

We’ve seen what HoloLens is capable of, and as such, Microsoft needs to highlight this product as much as possible. The company by now should realize that the United States tech market is saturated, and growth must come from elsewhere.

Having the HoloLens product being a huge part of India’s healthcare system and the company’s science sector could turn out to be a huge selling point for regular consumers when the device is ready for prime time.

There’s a lot more Microsoft can do in India, and we are certain the company will figure out. Satya Nadella is the CEO, and so far, he has been doing a splendid job.