AI infrastructure investments in India to exceed $150B by 2026
What's the story
India is set to witness a massive surge in investments for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, with the total expected to exceed $150 billion by the end of 2026. The prediction was made by Ashwini Vaishnaw, India's Minister of IT, Rail and Information and Broadcasting. He made the statement while leading an Indian delegation at Davos during the CNBC-TV18 Davos Dialogue event.
Current investments
$70 billion already committed by tech giants
Vaishnaw revealed that $70 billion has already been committed toward AI infrastructure development in India. This funding comes from global tech giants like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon. He further hinted at fresh commitments worth between $50 billion to $80 billion in the next 12 months alone.
Growth strategy
Infrastructure identified as key pillar for AI growth
Vaishnaw emphasized that infrastructure is one of the five key pillars required for India's growth in the AI space. The other four pillars are applications, large language models (LLMs), semiconductors, and power. He also highlighted the government's recent move to open up the nuclear energy sector with the SHANTI Act as a way to meet rising power demands due to increased AI usage.
AI initiatives
IndiaAI Mission and its impact
Under the IndiaAI Mission, the government has selected 12 start-ups to develop sovereign, foundational LLMs with 50-120 billion parameters. These models can run on small GPU clusters and provide cost-effective AI services. Vaishnaw said that the results have been impressive in real-world testing. The government also plans to fund development of applications and solutions using Indian models for widespread technology diffusion.
Future prospects
AI use cases and skill development
Vaishnaw said there would be a lot of AI use cases for farmers, MSMEs, and students that may not be commercially viable. He explained this is why the government has allocated funds for AI initiatives. The minister also urged industry leaders to help upskill youth and develop a curriculum for students to build a strong talent pipeline in this field.