S. Ahmad
“What is unfolding in India is not merely technological modernisation. It is a far-reaching civilisational shift in how a democracy of 1.4 billion people imagines progress, governance, and inclusion through digital intelligence.”
India today stands at a rare and defining historical intersection—where demographic scale meets digital ambition, and technological possibility meets social purpose. With a population exceeding 1.4 billion, a median age among the youngest in the world, and a rapidly expanding digital infrastructure, the country is uniquely positioned to influence how emerging technologies shape human societies. Artificial Intelligence, once viewed as a distant and elite technology confined to research laboratories and multinational corporations, is now steadily entering the everyday lives of ordinary Indians. From a farmer receiving crop advice on a mobile phone to a judge accessing translated case law, AI is no longer abstract—it is increasingly tangible.
Backed by an investment exceeding ₹10,300 crore under the IndiaAI Mission and supported by the deployment of nearly 38,000 Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), India is not merely adopting Artificial Intelligence. It is consciously shaping it to align with national priorities, democratic values, and social inclusion. This moment is therefore not simply about technological modernisation. What is unfolding is a far-reaching civilisational shift in how India governs, learns, heals, farms, works, and grows.
At its most basic level, Artificial Intelligence refers to the ability of machines to perform tasks that traditionally require human intelligence. These include learning from experience, recognising patterns, understanding language, making predictions, and improving performance over time. Modern AI systems operate on vast quantities of data, use complex mathematical algorithms, and increasingly rely on Large Language Models (LLMs) capable of processing and generating text, speech, images, and even video in a human-like manner.
Yet for India, AI cannot be understood merely as a tool for automation or efficiency. In a country marked by scale, diversity, and inequality, the meaning of technology must be broader. AI, in the Indian context, is fundamentally about reach. It is about serving millions rather than thousands. It is about bridging gaps rather than widening them. Most importantly, it is about inclusion—ensuring that the benefits of technological progress are shared across social and economic strata.
This perspective is clearly articulated in NITI Aayog’s AI for Inclusive Societal Development report (October 2025), which argues that the true test of advanced technology lies not in its sophistication but in its social impact. The report highlights India’s nearly 490 million informal workers, who form the backbone of the economy yet remain vulnerable to instability and exclusion. For the home healthcare aide in Rajkot, the carpenter in Delhi, or the marginal farmer grappling with climate uncertainty, AI must not become a threat to livelihood. Instead, it must function as a tool that enhances productivity, expands access to information, and strengthens human capability.
India’s technology ecosystem today reflects both maturity and momentum. The country’s tech sector is projected to cross USD 280 billion in revenue, employing more than six million people directly and many more indirectly. Over the years, India has evolved from being a global back-office to becoming a hub for innovation, research, and advanced digital services. The presence of more than 1,800 Global Capability Centres—over 500 of which focus on Artificial Intelligence—signals a shift in how global firms view India’s technological capabilities.
India’s startup ecosystem mirrors this transformation. Among the nearly 1.8 lakh startups operating in the country, AI is no longer a niche vertical but a foundational technology. An estimated 89 percent of startups launched last year integrated AI into their core offerings, ranging from healthcare diagnostics and fintech platforms to logistics optimisation and language translation tools.
Enterprise adoption further reinforces this trend. According to the NASSCOM AI Adoption Index, India scores 2.45 out of 4, with 87 percent of enterprises actively deploying AI solutions in some form. Sectors such as banking, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, and automotive together account for nearly 60 percent of AI-driven value creation. While only about a quarter of firms have reached full-scale AI maturity, the trajectory remains decisively upward.
This growing confidence is now reflected on the global stage. Stanford University’s 2025 Global AI Vibrancy Tool ranks India third worldwide in AI competitiveness. This ranking captures not just technical capability, but also talent availability, research output, startup dynamism, infrastructure readiness, and policy coherence. India is no longer debating whether it should adopt AI. It is actively deciding how to deploy it responsibly, at scale, and in service of the public good.
The approval of the IndiaAI Mission in March 2024 marked a defining institutional milestone in India’s digital journey. With a five-year financial outlay of ₹10,371.92 crore, the mission is guided by a clear and deliberate vision: Making AI in India and Making AI Work for India. This dual emphasis reflects both technological self-reliance and societal relevance.
One of the mission’s most consequential achievements has been the rapid expansion of national computing capacity. High-performance computing infrastructure is essential for training and deploying advanced AI models, yet it remains prohibitively expensive for most startups and academic institutions. By scaling GPU availability from an initial target of 10,000 to nearly 38,000 units, and offering access at a subsidised rate of ₹65 per hour, India has significantly lowered the entry barrier to innovation.
Implemented by IndiaAI under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the mission is structured around seven interconnected pillars. These address critical gaps in computing, datasets, skills development, startup financing, application deployment, safe and ethical AI, and sovereign foundation models. Together, they form the backbone of a comprehensive national AI ecosystem.
The real measure of AI’s success lies not in theoretical capability but in its practical impact on people’s lives. Recognising this, the IndiaAI Application Development Initiative has approved thirty AI-based solutions addressing India-specific challenges in healthcare, agriculture, governance, climate resilience, and education. These initiatives focus on real problems rather than abstract innovation.
Sector-specific hackathons, such as the CyberGuard AI Hackathon, further exemplify this approach by bringing together policymakers, technologists, and domain experts to co-create solutions. Rather than chasing generic technological trends, these efforts anchor innovation in lived realities.
The AIKosh platform strengthens this ecosystem by offering open access to more than 5,500 datasets and 251 AI models across 20 sectors. With over 385,000 visits and 26,000 downloads recorded by December 2025, AIKosh reduces duplication of effort and allows developers to focus on building solutions rather than assembling raw data.
Equally significant is India’s emphasis on sovereign AI capability. Under the IndiaAI Foundation Models pillar, domestic Large Multimodal Models are being developed using Indian languages, datasets, and cultural contexts. Startups and consortia such as Sarvam AI, BharatGen (led by IIT Bombay), and Tech Mahindra Maker’s Lab are building systems that better reflect India’s linguistic diversity and social realities. In the AI era, sovereignty is not about isolation; it is about retaining the capacity to shape one’s digital future.
No technological transformation can succeed without skilled people. Recognising this, the IndiaAI Future Skills pillar supports 500 doctoral fellows, 5,000 postgraduate students, and 8,000 undergraduates. Data and AI labs are being established across Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities to decentralise opportunity and nurture talent beyond metropolitan centres. With 31 labs already operational and 174 ITIs and polytechnics integrated into the programme, the initiative signals a long-term commitment to human capital.
Startups receive targeted support through the IndiaAI Startup Financing pillar, including global exposure via partnerships with institutions such as Station F and HEC Paris. At the same time, ethical concerns surrounding AI are addressed through the Safe and Trusted AI pillar, which supports research on bias mitigation, explainable AI, privacy-preserving machine learning, and governance frameworks. Innovation, in this vision, must advance hand in hand with responsibility.
Perhaps the most persuasive evidence of India’s AI journey lies in its everyday applications. In healthcare, AI assists doctors in early diagnosis, improves telemedicine outreach, and supports ethical medical innovation. In agriculture, farmers increasingly rely on AI-powered tools for pest surveillance, weather forecasting, and access to government schemes through platforms such as Kisan e-Mitra.
Education is undergoing a similar transformation. Students encounter AI through digital learning platforms like DIKSHA, curriculum integration, and national initiatives such as YUVAi. In governance and justice delivery, AI-enabled translation of court judgments into regional languages is making legal processes more accessible and transparent. In climate and disaster management, AI-driven forecasting tools used by agencies like the India Meteorological Department are saving lives and livelihoods.
Concerns about job displacement remain valid, yet evidence points to a more nuanced reality. While AI will alter how tasks are performed, it is also creating new demand for data scientists, AI engineers, system curators, and analysts. With AI talent projected to exceed 12.5 lakh professionals by 2027 and initiatives like FutureSkills PRIME training millions, India is preparing its workforce for transition rather than displacement.
One of the most ambitious proposals in India’s AI discourse is the Digital ShramSetu Mission envisioned by NITI Aayog. By integrating AI with technologies such as IoT, blockchain, and immersive learning, the mission aims to empower informal workers through voice-first interfaces, smart contracts, micro-credentials, and portable digital identities. Its phased roadmap—from mission design to nationwide rollout—reflects a rare synthesis of technological ambition and social empathy.
At its core lies a simple but powerful idea: technology must serve dignity, not just efficiency.
India’s AI journey is no longer aspirational; it is operational. From GPUs and foundational models to classrooms, courts, farms, and hospitals, Artificial Intelligence is becoming embedded within the country’s institutional fabric. What distinguishes India’s approach is not speed alone, but intent—the conscious effort to align innovation with inclusion and growth with equity.
If sustained through ethical governance, continuous skilling, and public trust, AI could add an estimated USD 1.7 trillion to India’s economy by 2035. More importantly, it holds the promise of deepening democracy by expanding access to opportunity, services, and information.
In that sense, India is not merely adopting Artificial Intelligence. It is redefining what AI can mean for a developing democracy—and offering the world a model where technology serves citizens, not just code.
The article is based on the inputs and background information provided by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) Author is Writer, Policy Commentator. He can be mailed at kcprmijk@gmail.com
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