AI Democratization Key to India’s Global Leadership

India currently faces a shortage of AI PhD holders and significant infrastructure challenges, particularly in energy supply and scaling AI development. Experts underscored that establishing a strong AI ecosystem requires strategic planning, workforce development, and expansion of infrastructure.

“The democratization of AI is essential for it to be taken seriously,” said Prasad Balakrishnan, COO of MiPhi. “Universities, scholars, the government, and enterprises all have vital roles to play in building a strong AI ecosystem.”

Metesh Bhati, Chief Digital and AI Officer at Protean eGov Technologies Ltd, urged the government to make datasets accessible to startups, allowing them to train AI models and fully harness AI's potential.“If the India Council for Agricultural Research opens up anonymized data for startups, it could fundamentally transform the landscape. India is an agri-first country, and such advancements could be huge,” Bhati said.

Experts also highlighted the crucial role of skill development in driving AI innovation.“One of the biggest challenges in India’s AI mission is skill development. We need to invest in building a skilled workforce to drive this technology forward,” Balakrishnan added.

Manu Jain, CEO of G42 India, stressed the importance of collaboration between universities, research institutes, the government, and private sector organizations.“If we build strong collaborations and fund the necessary computer infrastructure, we can make this happen. AI development requires cooperation between the public and private sectors, and this will be key to India’s success.”

The Economic Survey 2024-25 noted that India’s workforce in low-skill, low-value-added services is at risk of AI disruptions. It suggested establishing "robust institutions" to assist workers in transitioning to medium- and high-skilled roles, where AI can enhance their work rather than replace it.

The experts also recommended prioritizing the development of foundational and specialized AI models to drive homegrown innovation. “We might want to work on our own foundation model for our specific needs. Many existing models are not fine-tuned for India. While this should be a long-term goal, we must carefully plan and strategize,” said Vishal Kanvaty, CTO of NPCI.

Kanvaty also expressed concerns about relying on a single GPU supplier, stressing the importance of developing alternative, homegrown solutions. “To ensure long-term AI stability, India must develop its own computer infrastructure to avoid potential setbacks,” he said.

Manu Jain recommended focusing on optimizing existing models before working on developing foundational ones.“The first step is building applications specific to India and training current models for local languages like Hindi, English, and Tamil. Western models often fail to grasp colloquial meanings,” he said. He also recommended establishing a separate AI ministry, similar to the UAE’s approach.

The Union government is preparing to launch the IndiaAI Compute Portal, allowing stakeholders such as central ministries and state governments to request compute capacity. The IndiaAI Compute Pillar has issued a memo to all Union ministries, departments, and chief secretaries, outlining subsidized pricing for compute capacity, network, and storage services. It is reported that the IndiaAI Mission will cover approximately 40% of computing costs for eligible users.

To boost AI-driven innovation in India, Yotta Data Services has been added to the IndiaAI Mission’s roster to strengthen the country's AI capabilities. The company will supply more than 50% of the AI Mission's GPU computing capacity, which will be available through the forthcoming IndiaAI Mission portal.

Yotta has committed over 9,216 GPUs, including 8,192 Nvidia H100 GPUs and 1,024 L40S GPUs, which will be rolled out in phases from its NM1 data center. Yotta's services will include AI Labs for students, AI Workspaces, GPU-as-a-Service, and API endpoints for AI models.

Launched on 7 March 2024, the IndiaAI Mission aims to enhance the country’s global leadership in AI and ensure its benefits are accessible to all segments of society. To realize this vision, the IndiaAI Mission has introduced seven key pillars designed to strengthen the domestic AI ecosystem.

A World Economic Forum report suggests that AI could contribute $500 billion to India's economy by 2025, transforming key sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, urban planning, and manufacturing.

Despite increasing efforts to advance AI, India currently accounts for only 3% of early-stage AI infrastructure and foundational startups. However, AI application-focused startups are growing rapidly, capturing 65% of the market share, according to the 'Sense AI Annual Ventures 2025' report by Sense AI Ventures. AI tooling startups represent 22% of the total market.

The report, which is based on a survey of 849 startups across India conducted last year, reveals that Bengaluru has emerged as the country’s leading AI hub, attracting over 40% of the $1.35 billion in funding received by AI startups in 2024. Delhi NCR and Mumbai follow in second and third place, respectively.