India must build AI infrastructure at home to lead the global AI economy: Ashwini Vaishnaw

Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday said India is at the stage of an industrial revolution driven by the AI economy, underlining that domestic AI infrastructure will be critical for the country to build a strong global presence in artificial intelligence-led services.

Addressing a press conference at Rail Bhawan, Vaishnaw said AI has five layers in its overall architecture, with data centres playing a pivotal role in the infrastructure layer. He stressed that India must build and scale this layer within the country to unlock the full potential of its technology ecosystem.

“We must have AI infrastructure located within our own country and made accessible to our IT industry,” Vaishnaw said, adding that this would enable Indian companies to deliver AI-driven services to corporations and enterprises across the world.

The minister said India has already begun investing nearly $70 billion in AI infrastructure, with total announcements touching around $90 billion. He added that the government has announced a tax holiday for AI data centres till 2047 to accelerate investments in the sector.

“This is India’s biggest opportunity for AI,” Vaishnaw said, noting that the latest announcements on AI data centres and simplification of IT services will help maximise the delivery of AI-based services globally.

He said the government’s focus is to ensure that India’s AI infrastructure layer becomes a prominent and foundational layer in the global AI stack.

Vaishnaw also highlighted the strong multiplier effect of AI data centres, saying their establishment would spur rapid growth in the domestic manufacturing ecosystem for chips, AI servers and other critical components, strengthening local manufacturing and creating long-term economic value.

Pointing to India’s talent advantage, the minister said the country has the second-largest talent pool in the world, but its full potential can be realised only when world-class AI infrastructure is available domestically.

Addressing concerns around energy consumption and resource usage, Vaishnaw said such issues are valid but can be tackled through innovation. He cited a recent interaction with a startup that has developed a solution capable of reducing energy consumption by up to 35 percent, demonstrating that sustainability challenges in AI infrastructure can be effectively addressed with the right ecosystem.