India AI Revolution: PM Modi’s Vision for a Tech-Driven Future

Introduction:

India is seeing a stunning shift in artificial intelligence, owing to PM Modi’s visionary leadership. For the first time in India’s history, the government is actively constructing an AI environment in which computing power, GPUs, and research possibilities are reasonably priced.

Unlike in the past, in India AI Revolution is no longer reserved for a select few or dominated by foreign tech behemoths. Through forward-thinking legislation, the Modi government is providing world-class AI infrastructure to schools, businesses, and innovators, promoting a truly fair playing field. Initiatives like the IndiaAI Mission and the construction of AI Centers of Excellence are helping to strengthen the country’s AI ecosystem, opening the way for innovation and self-reliance in this crucial industry.

These efforts are in line with Viksit Bharat by 2047, which envisions India as a worldwide AI powerhouse, harnessing cutting-edge technology for economic growth, governance, and societal improvement.

AI Computing and Semiconductor Infrastructure

India is rapidly developing a robust AI computing and semiconductor infrastructure to support its expanding digital economy. The government approved the IndiaAI Mission in 2024, allocating ₹10,300 crore over five years to improve AI capabilities. A main objective of this mission is the creation of a high-end common computing facility outfitted with 18,693 Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), making it one of the world’s most extensive AI compute infrastructures. This capacity is over nine times that of DeepSeek, an open-source AI model, and around two-thirds of what ChatGPT runs on.

Here are the main developments:

• Scaling AI Compute Infrastructure: The mission’s initial phase has already made 10,000 GPUs available, with the remaining units expected to be deployed soon. This will allow for the development of indigenous AI solutions specific to Indian languages and settings.
• Increasing Access to High-Performance Computing: India has also pioneered the creation of an open GPU marketplace, making high-performance computing available to companies, academics, and students. Unlike many countries where huge firms control AI infrastructure, this program allows small players to innovate.
• Robust GPU Supply Chain: The government has chosen ten companies to supply GPUs, assuring a strong and diverse supply chain.
• Indigenous GPU Capabilities: To boost local capabilities, India intends to build its own GPU within the next three to five years, reducing its dependency’s on foreign technology.A new compute center will soon be launched, providing researchers and startups with GPU capacity at a subsidised fee of ₹100 per hour, compared to the global cost of $2.5 to $3 per hour.
• Strengthening Semiconductor production: In parallel, India is expanding semiconductor production, with five plants under construction. These developments would not only promote AI innovation, but will also strengthen India’s position in the global electronics sector.

Advance AI with Open Data and Centers of Excellence (CoE)

Recognizing the importance of data in AI development, the Modi administration has launched the India AI Revolution Dataset Platform, which will allow easy access to high-quality, non-personal data. This portal will host the largest amount of anonymized data, allowing Indian businesses and researchers to create advanced AI applications. This program will boost AI-driven solutions across important industries by assuring diverse and sufficient datasets, hence increasing creativity and accuracy.

• IndiaAI Dataset Platform for Open Data Access: The platform will provide Indian companies and researchers with access to a centralized collection of high-quality, anonymized datasets, lowering barriers to AI innovation.
• Increasing AI Model Accuracy with Diverse Data: By offering large-scale, non-personal datasets, the program aims to decrease biases and increase the reliability of AI applications in fields like agriculture, weather forecasting, and traffic management.
• Centres of Excellence :The government has built three AI Centres of Excellence (CoE) in New Delhi, focusing on healthcare, agriculture, and sustainable cities. The Budget 2025 announced the establishment of a new CoE for AI in education, with a budget of ₹500 crore. This is the fourth such center.
• Skilling for AI-Driven Industries: Five National Centres of Excellence for Skilling will be established to provide youth with industry-relevant competence. These facilities will be established in conjunction with global partners to advance the ‘Make for India, Make for the World’ agenda of manufacturing and India AI Revolution.

India’s AI Models and Language Technologies

The government is promoting the creation of India’s own foundational models, such as Large Language Models (LLMs) and problem-specific AI solutions tailored to Indian requirements. Several Centers of Excellence have been established to promote AI research.

• India’s Foundational Large Language Models: India AI Revolution has issued a request for proposals to construct indigenous foundational AI models, including LLMs and Small Language Models (SLMs).
• India’s digital transformation BHASHINI : is an AI-powered language translation platform that enables easy access to the internet and digital services in Indian languages, including voice-based access, as well as assistance for Indian language content development.
• BharatGen: BharatGen, the world’s first government-funded multimodal LLM effort, would be launched in Delhi in 2024. Its goal is to improve public service delivery and citizen involvement by developing basic models in language, speech, and computer vision. BharatGen is a group of AI researchers from India’s top academic institutions.
• Sarvam-1 AI Model: Sarvam-1 is a big language model optimized for Indian languages. It has 2 billion parameters and handles ten major Indian languages. It is intended for applications such as language translation, text summarization, and content creation.
• Chitralekha : an open-source video transcreation tool built by AI4 Bhārat, allows users to generate and edit audio transcripts in multiple Indic languages.
• Hanooman’s Everest Version 1.0: Everest 1.0, a multilingual AI system built by SML, currently supports 35 Indian languages and has intentions to extend to 90.

AI Integration for Digital Public Infrastructure

India’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) has reshaped digital innovation by merging public finance with private-sector innovation. Platforms like Aadhaar, UPI, and DigiLocker serve as the basis, with commercial businesses building application-specific solutions on top of them. This paradigm is currently being upgraded by AI, which incorporates intelligent solutions into financial and governance platforms. The global popularity of India’s DPI was demonstrated at the G20 Summit, where other countries expressed interest in implementing comparable frameworks. Japan’s patent grant for India’s UPI payment system emphasizes its scalability.India AI Revolution

For Mahakumbh 2025, AI-powered DPI technologies were critical in controlling the world’s largest human gathering. AI-powered systems tracked railway passenger movement in real time to optimize crowd dispersal in Prayagraj. The Bhashini-powered Kumbh Sah’AI’yak Chatbot enables voice-based lost-and-found services, real-time translation, and multilingual support. Its collaboration with Indian Railways and UP Police enhanced communication, resulting in faster issue resolution. By combining AI and DPI, Mahakumbh 2025 established a global standard for technology-enabled, inclusive, and effective event management.India AI Revolution

AI Talent and Workforce Development

India’s workforce is at the center of its digital revolution. Every week, the government opens a new Global Capability Center (GCC), cementing its position as a top destination for global R&D and technical development. However, maintaining this growth would necessitate ongoing investments in education and skill development. The government is tackling this issue by updating university curricula to include AI, 5G, and semiconductor design, in accordance with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. This guarantees that graduates have job-ready skills, minimizing the time between study and employment.India AI Revolution

• AI Talent Pipeline and AI Education: Under the India AI Revolution Future Skills project, AI education is being expanded to include undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral degrees. Fellowships are available to full-time Ph.D. scholars investigating AI at the top 50 NIRF-ranked institutes. To improve accessibility, Data and AI Labs are being developed in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, with a model IndiaAI Data Lab already operational at NIELIT Delhi.
• India Ranks First in Global AI Skill Penetration: According to the Stanford AI Index 2024, India has the highest AI skill penetration score of 2.8, ahead of the United States (2.2) and Germany (1.9). AI skill concentration in India has increased by 263% during 2016, establishing the country as a key AI hub. India also ranks first in AI Skill Penetration for Women, with a score of 1.7, outperforming the United States (1.2) and Israel (0.9).
• AI Innovation: India boasts the world’s fastest-growing developer population and the second-largest number of public generative AI projects on GitHub. The country is home to 16% of the world’s AI talent, demonstrating its expanding impact on AI innovation and adoption.
• AI Talent Hubs: According to Whee box’s India Skills Report 2024, India’s AI industry would be worth USD 28.8 billion by 2025, representing a 45% compound annual growth rate. From 2016 to 2023, the AI-skilled workforce increased 14-fold, placing India among the top five fastest-growing AI talent hubs, along with Singapore, Finland, Ireland, and Canada. The demand for AI specialists in India is expected to reach one million by 2026.

AI Adoption and Industry Growth

Despite the global slowdown, India’s Generative AI (GenAI) ecosystem has grown significantly. The country’s AI sector is transitioning from experimental use cases to scalable, production-ready solutions, indicating an increasing maturity.

• Businesses Prioritising AI Investments: According to BCG, 80% of Indian enterprises regard AI as a core strategic goal, outperforming the global average of 75%. Additionally, 69% intend to raise their technology spending in 2025, with one-third allocating more than USD 25 million to AI initiatives.
• GenAI Startup investment: According to a November 2024 report by the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM), Indian GenAI startup investment increased by more than six times quarter over quarter, reaching USD 51 million in Q2FY2025, primarily driven by B2B and agentic AI firms.
• AI Transforming Workplaces: According to the Randstad AI & Equity Report 2024, seven out of ten Indian employees used AI at work in 2024, up from five out of ten the previous year, demonstrating AI’s rapid integration into the workplace.
• AI is empowering small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) : by enabling them to scale efficiently, personalize consumer experiences, and optimize operations. According to Salesforce, 78% of Indian SMBs adopting AI reported revenue growth, with 93% claiming AI contributed to greater revenues.
• Rapid Growth of India’s AI Economy: According to the BCG-NASSCOM Report 2024, India’s AI market is expected to expand at a CAGR of 25-35%, highlighting its potential for innovation and job generation. While AI automates regular processes, it also creates new opportunities for data science, machine learning, and AI-powered applications.
• AI Startup Support Ecosystem: With over 520 tech incubators and accelerators, India ranks third in the world for active programs. 42% of these were founded within the last five years, responding to the changing needs of Indian startups. AI-focused accelerators, such as T-Hub MATH, offer valuable guidance in product creation, business strategy, and scalability. In early 2024, MATH backed over 60 businesses, with five actively seeking investment, demonstrating India’s expanding India AI Revolution scene.

A pragmatic AI regulation approach.

India’s pragmatic AI regulation strikes a compromise between innovation and responsibility, avoiding overregulation, which might hamper growth, and unfettered market-driven governance, which could result in monopolies. Instead of depending just on regulation, India is investing in AI-powered safeguards, supporting premier universities and IITs to find solutions for deep fakes, privacy concerns, and cybersecurity threats. This techno-legal approach guarantees that AI stays a force for inclusive progress, creating an ecosystem conducive to innovation while proactively addressing ethical concerns.India AI Revolution

Conclusion

India’s rapid advances in artificial intelligence, backed up by smart government efforts, have established the country as a worldwide AI powerhouse. India is building an inclusive and innovative environment by extending AI computing capacity, nurturing indigenous AI models, improving digital public infrastructure, and investing in talent development.India AI Revolution

The emphasis on open data, low-cost access to high-performance computing, and AI-driven solutions adapted to local needs ensure that AI helps businesses, researchers, and people equally. As AI adoption spreads across industries, India’s proactive strategy is bolstering its digital economy while also opening the way for self-reliance in crucial technologies. With a clear vision for the future, India is poised to become a leader in AI innovation, influencing the global AI landscape in the years ahead.