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On National Technology Day 2025, India celebrates its technological advancements in AI-driven sustainable solutions. AI is transforming industries like energy, agriculture, and manufacturing, promoting efficiency and reducing environmental impact. With initiatives like IndiaAI Mission and public-private partnerships, India is poised to become a global leader in ethical and inclusive innovation. AI emerges as a cornerstone for a sustainable future.
National Technology Day, celebrated annually on May 11, commemorates India’s technological milestones, notably the 1998 Pokhran-II nuclear tests. In 2025, the focus shifts to artificial intelligence (AI) as a transformative force for sustainable industrial growth, aligning with India’s vision of a $1 trillion digital economy by 2025. This article explores how AI is driving sustainable solutions across key Indian industries, addressing environmental and economic challenges while fostering innovation.
India’s energy sector, critical to its industrial backbone, is leveraging AI to integrate renewable energy and enhance efficiency. AI-powered smart grids use predictive analytics to forecast demand, optimize energy distribution, and reduce wastage. By 2025, AI is expected to cut operational costs in energy firms by streamlining supply chains and service operations. For instance, machine learning algorithms improve battery storage, enabling better integration of solar and wind energy into the national grid. These advancements support India’s clean energy goals, with $500 billion in investment opportunities identified for sustainable infrastructure.
Agriculture, employing nearly half of India’s workforce, is undergoing an AI-driven transformation. Precision irrigation and crop monitoring systems, powered by AI, are projected to generate $18 billion in revenue by 2024 while minimizing environmental impact. Drones and sensors analyze soil health and biodiversity, promoting regenerative farming that enhances yields and restores ecosystems. Initiatives like Gujarat’s AI Centres of Excellence focus on sustainable agriculture, ensuring food security and reducing resource depletion.
AI-enabled automation is revolutionizing India’s manufacturing sector, addressing its lagging industrial productivity. By optimizing production lines and predicting maintenance needs, AI reduces downtime and energy consumption. Advanced carbon capture and storage (CCS) systems, enhanced by AI, are making industrial processes more efficient at sequestering emissions, aligning with global carbon neutrality goals. These innovations position India to compete globally, particularly against manufacturing hubs like China.
To mark the special occasion, many industry experts weighed in sharing their thoughts. Amit Luthra, Managing Director, Lenovo ISG India, stated, “We recognize AI as the driving force behind India’s next wave of digital and economic transformation. From BFSI to manufacturing and healthcare, enterprises are reimagining how they operate, serve customers, and innovate – powered by AI and data. As highlighted in Lenovo’s CIO Playbook 2025, 51% of Indian organizations are scaling AI initiatives to stay competitive in a fast-evolving landscape. But to truly unlock value, they need infrastructure that’s agile, intelligent, and scalable. Our next-generation, AI-optimized storage solutions including 21 new ThinkSystem and ThinkAgile models are designed to help businesses harness the full potential of their data across workloads, whether in AI, virtualization, or sustainable operations. Lenovo is committed to making AI smarter and accessible to everyone, contributing to India’s ‘AI for All’ vision and ensuring its benefits reach every industry and community.”
AI is transforming waste management by automating sorting and optimizing collection routes, reducing methane emissions from landfills. By 2025, AI systems will enhance circular economy practices, facilitating recycling and material reuse across industries. Startups like Bluwage are using AI to ensure hygiene in food processing, contributing to Sustainable Development Goals such as Zero Hunger and Clean Energy. These efforts align with India’s commitment to sustainable urban development and resource efficiency.
Meanwhile, Warren Harris, CEO & MD, Tata Technologies, feels that India stands at the cusp of a technological revolution, propelled by breakthroughs in clean mobility, fintech, artificial intelligence, and more. He explained, “Tata Technologies’ vision of engineering a better world aligns powerfully with the ethos of National Technology Day 2025: celebrating innovation that fosters sustainability, inclusivity, and progress. Anchored in our commitment to India for India and for the World, we are transforming the manufacturing sector with next-gen innovations across the product value chain, engineered in India to serve both local and global markets. From our turnkey Electric Vehicle development solutions and ICE-to-EV conversion offerings that we pioneered in India for India to our energy-efficient design methodologies and Battery Passport initiative, we are accelerating the journey toward clean and sustainable mobility. Our Indigenous eVMP platform and sustainability toolkits empower manufacturers to embed environmental KPIs and circularity across the product lifecycle. By leveraging deep domain knowledge and data intelligence, we are helping global OEMs create innovative, responsible products — making ‘Tech for Good’ a measurable and scalable reality.”
Despite AI’s potential, challenges persist. High computing costs, reliance on foreign AI models, and a shortage of skilled professionals hinder scalability. The IndiaAI Mission, with a ₹10,372 crore budget, aims to address these through indigenous models like BharatGen and Sarvam-1, alongside AI Centres of Excellence. Public-private partnerships and skilling initiatives, such as Karnataka’s AI/ML training programs, are critical to building a robust AI ecosystem.
Pradeep Reddy, Director of Engineering at Confluent India, reflected on how India’s tech mindset is evolving from adoption to innovation, “India has always had the talent pool, a young, tech-savvy population that gives us the advantage of demographic dividend. In the last decade or so, we have seen a gradual mindset shift to lead the next wave of global tech innovation. What excites me most about our tech ecosystem today is what’s happening inside the engineering community. The fear around AI is fading, not because it’s getting easier, but because our engineers are getting smarter. They’re asking better questions, focusing on outcomes, and building with more intent. The tools are evolving fast, but so are we. Across emerging tech hubs in the country, there’s a clear shift from learning to building. Indian technologists have moved beyond adopting global innovation. There’s a growing drive to shape it, localize it, and scale it in ways that work for India and Indians. But with all this momentum comes responsibility. We can’t afford to be passive adopters. We need to keep pushing ourselves, to upskill constantly, stay outcome-focused, and take ownership of what we build. If there’s one thing we need to leave behind, it’s complacency.”
Amit Chadha, CEO & Managing Director, L&T Technology Services shares, “What gives me immense hope is the energy and ingenuity of the next generation of technocrats. Through TECHgium®, our flagship innovation challenge, we are fostering a strong industry-academia connect — equipping students with real-world problem statements and turning campuses into innovation labs. These young minds are not just participants, they are co-creators of a better tomorrow. On this National Technology Day, I envision a world where sustainability and resilience are at the heart of every engineering decision. At LTTS, we remain committed to driving meaningful impact through technology, empowering industries to navigate complexity and emerge stronger, smarter, and greener.”
On National Technology Day 2025, India is experiencing an AI-driven industrial revolution. By integrating AI into energy, agriculture, manufacturing, and waste management, the nation is advancing sustainability while bolstering economic growth. However, overcoming infrastructure and skill gaps will be crucial to realizing AI’s full potential. As India celebrates its technological legacy, AI emerges as a cornerstone for a sustainable, self-reliant future, positioning the country as a global leader in ethical and inclusive innovation.
