India’s artificial intelligence ambitions have entered a decisive phase, with Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw confirming $70 billion already committed to AI computing infrastructure, and signalling the launch of AI Mission 2.0 within the next six months. This marks a transition from policy intent to large-scale execution, positioning AI as a core pillar of India’s digital and economic strategy.
Approved in March 2024 with a ₹10,371.92 crore outlay over five years, AI Mission 1.0 focused on democratizing access to compute, building datasets, skilling talent, and fostering indigenous AI models. The results are tangible: GPU capacity has expanded from an initial target of 10,000 to 38,000 GPUs, significantly lowering entry barriers for startups, researchers, and enterprises.
The proposed AI Mission 2.0 is expected to carry larger fiscal backing and deeper industry participation, reflecting the scale of demand and accelerating private-sector confidence. Vaishnaw’s indication that investments could double after the AI Impact Summit 2026 underlines strong global and domestic investor sentiment.
AI compute is energy-intensive, and India’s emphasis on a robust and green power grid—with 50% of installed capacity from renewable sources—adds a strategic advantage. This alignment of AI infrastructure with energy resilience strengthens India’s case as a sustainable global AI hub.
Equally significant is the focus on sovereign AI capabilities. PM Modi’s roundtable with global tech leaders highlights a policy push to ensure India’s AI stack—from data and models to compute—remains resilient against geopolitical and supply-chain shocks.
India’s AI strategy is not infrastructure-only. Over 500,000 students have already received advanced AI skilling through industry-academia collaborations, with plans to scale further. With over 200 Small Language Models (SLMs) developed by Indian companies for sector-specific use cases, the ecosystem is moving toward practical, localized AI deployment rather than generic model dependence.
The presence of leaders from Nvidia, Qualcomm, Salesforce, Adobe, OpenAI, and Anthropic-linked leadership at the AI Impact Summit signals India’s growing relevance in the global AI order. With 26% of Indian firms already at AI maturity, India is no longer an AI adopter alone—but an emerging AI builder.
India’s AI push reflects a long-term, infrastructure-first, ecosystem-driven strategy. AI Mission 2.0 is likely to deepen compute access, accelerate sovereign model development, and anchor AI as a national capability—placing India among the world’s most consequential AI economies by the end of the decade.
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