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India ranks third in AI competitiveness and is the second-largest contributor to GitHub AI projects, reflecting strong developer and innovation capacity.
IndiaAI Mission has onboarded 38,000+ GPUs at a subsidized Rs. 65 per hour, with 20,000 more announced in February 2026 for broader national AI access.
AIKosh now hosts more than 9,500 datasets and 273 models, while twelve teams have been selected to develop indigenous foundational AI models.
India has moved from supplying technology talent to helping shape the global AI economy. The country now combines a large pool of engineers, publicly funded computing power, homegrown language models and an active voice in international policy talks. Studies point to large gains ahead, as a joint IBM and IndiaAI study estimates that AI could add more than USD 500 billion to the economy by 2030, while a government backgrounder cites a possible USD 1.7 trillion by 2035. This article explains where India stands today, what is driving its rise and which gaps still need attention.
India enters the AI race with a strong foundation. According to a PIB backgrounder from December 2025, more than 6 million people work in the technology and AI ecosystem, and the country hosts over 1,800 Global Capability Centres, of which more than 500 focus on AI. India has around 180,000 startups, and nearly 89% of those launched last year used AI in their products or services. Stanford's 2025 Global AI Vibrancy Tool ranks India third in the world for AI competitiveness, and the same backgrounder notes that Indian developers are the second-largest contributors to AI projects on GitHub.
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Computing power is costly, so India has chosen to share it widely. The Cabinet approved the IndiaAI Mission in March 2024 with an outlay of Rs. 10,371.92 crore over five years. The first target was 10,000 GPUs, and the mission has now reached 38,000, which developers can use at a reduced rate of Rs. 65 per hour. A national dataset platform called AIKosh holds more than 5,500 datasets and 251 AI models across 20 sectors. These steps lower entry costs for startups, researchers and students who could not otherwise afford such resources.
India is building AI that reflects its own languages and needs. BharatGen, launched in June 2025, is the first government-funded model that handles text, speech and images, and it supports 22 Indian languages. IndiaAI has also selected twelve startups, including Sarvam AI, to build large models trained on Indian data. Bhashini, the public translation platform, supports 20 languages and has crossed one million downloads. The World Economic Forum notes that India's digital public infrastructure gives AI applications a head start in reaching scale, which helps people who do not speak English join the digital economy.
Usage data shows both strengths and limits. Anthropic's India brief studied about one million Claude.ai conversations from November 2025 and found that India accounts for 5.8% of global use, second only to the United States. Software tasks make up 45.2% of Indian use, the highest share of any country, and users described tasks that would take 3.8 hours to finish in about 15 minutes. That is a 15-times speedup against 12 times globally. Yet on a per capita basis, India ranks 101st out of 116 countries, and four states account for over half of all use. These figures describe one platform only.
The projected gains are large, though they depend on how well companies put AI to work. The IBM and IndiaAI study surveyed 1,500 executives and found that about 80% expect AI investment to shape economic growth. Only 15% of organizations are scaling AI across functions, while the rest run pilots, and about 30% of employees have the AI literacy that businesses require.
India hosted the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi from 16 to 21 February 2026, the first in the series held in the Global South. Delegations from more than 80 countries attended, and close to 90 countries and organizations endorsed the nonbinding New Delhi Declaration on trusted and inclusive AI. Reported investment pledges crossed USD 250 billion, including a plan by Reliance Industries to invest USD 110 billion over seven years in sovereign AI infrastructure. Earlier, the AI for India 2030 initiative, co-hosted by MeitY, Nasscom and the World Economic Forum, created an AI Playbook and an AI Sandbox to guide responsible adoption in farming and small businesses.
The next phase depends on a few clear priorities that policymakers and companies can act on together.
Spread AI use beyond software work and the four leading states, so that farmers, teachers and small firms gain equal access.
Raise AI literacy among employees, since skills decide how much value companies can draw from the technology.
Strengthen enterprise data systems and governance rules, which the IBM study links to the move from pilots to full scale.
Build voice-based tools in local languages for informal workers, as the NITI Aayog roadmap proposes.
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India's role in the global AI economy rests on scale, public investment and a clear wish to build for its own people. The country has the talent, the computing capacity and the diplomatic standing to influence how AI develops worldwide. Whether the projected gains arrive will depend on how widely adoption spreads, how quickly workers gain AI skills and how responsibly companies move from pilots to full deployment. If these steps succeed, India could shape the AI economy as a major participant that serves its own citizens and offers a useful model for other developing nations.
1. What is driving India’s AI growth?
India’s AI growth is being driven by its large technology workforce, public computing infrastructure, domestic AI models and strong startup ecosystem. The country is also gaining influence through international AI policy discussions and industry partnerships.
2. How is India expanding AI computing access?
The IndiaAI Mission has onboarded more than 38,000 GPUs for shared use. The government has also announced another 20,000 GPUs, helping startups, researchers and other eligible users access computing resources at subsidised rates.
3. What are India’s homegrown AI models?
India is developing indigenous AI systems for local needs and languages. BharatGen supports 22 Indian languages, while the IndiaAI Mission has selected twelve teams to develop foundational models using Indian data and use cases.
4. How are Indians using AI at work?
Anthropic’s 2026 India study found that India represented 5.8% of global Claude use. Software development accounted for 45.2% of usage, with adoption concentrated in a handful of major states.
5. How is India influencing global AI policy?
India hosted the AI Impact Summit in February 2026, attracting delegations from more than 100 countries and organisations. The New Delhi Declaration gained support from 92 countries and organisations, strengthening India’s role in global AI discussions.
