As preparations build for the India AI Impact Summit 2026, scheduled from February 16 to 20 in New Delhi, the government has outlined artificial intelligence as a major force for economic growth, higher productivity, and job creation. The focus, officials said, is to ensure AI adoption boosts efficiency and employment while keeping humans central to decision-making.
The Summit is expected to project India as an active contributor to global AI development, governance, and cooperation, instead of being seen only as a large-scale adopter of technology.
A report by the Competition Commission of India highlighted the rapid expansion of the country’s AI market. India’s AI market grew from $2.97 billion in 2020 to $7.63 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $131.31 billion by 2032, registering a compound annual growth rate of 42.2%. In comparison, the global AI market expanded from $103.6 billion to $288.8 billion during the same period.
The report also pointed to global benchmarks that underline India’s readiness for AI adoption. India ranked 3rd in Stanford University’s 2025 Global AI Vibrancy Ranking, behind the United States and China. Stanford’s AI Index Report 2025 showed that India’s penetration of AI skills is 2.5 times higher than the global average across similar occupations. India scored 49.3 on the IMF’s AI Preparedness Index and ranked 27th in Oxford Insights’ Government AI Readiness Index 2025, leading South and Central Asia.
Digital infrastructure was identified as a key enabler. Internet connections crossed 100 crore in June 2025, up from 25.15 crore in 2014. India is now the world’s 2nd-largest 5G market with over 400 million users. Data centres operated by the National Informatics Centre in Delhi, Pune, Bhubaneswar, and Hyderabad have expanded storage to about 100 petabytes. The government has also acquired 38,000 GPUs to strengthen domestic AI compute capacity.
Ahead of the Summit, 12 AI startups selected under the IndiaAI Mission’s Foundation Model pillar presented their work at a roundtable chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Their work spans Indian language foundation models, multilingual large language models, speech and video generation, 3D content, engineering simulations, healthcare diagnostics, and material research.
The report noted that AI is reshaping India’s labour market rather than displacing jobs. Between 2023 and 2025, AI-related job postings in South Asia more than doubled, with India accounting for most listings. India recorded an AI talent hiring growth rate of about 33% annually, while GitHub data placed the country as the 2nd-largest contributor to global AI projects in 2024.
AI jobs are largely concentrated in southern hubs. Bengaluru accounted for around 11% of AI job listings in 2025, followed by Hyderabad at 9.57%, Pune at 6.95%, and Chennai at 6.62%. Roles requiring AI skills offer salaries up to 28% higher than non-AI roles.
To support workforce readiness, the government has launched initiatives such as IndiaAI FutureSkills, FutureSkills Prime, Skill India Digital Hub, and curriculum reforms under the National Education Policy 2020. As of December 2025, support is being provided to 500 PhD scholars, 5,000 postgraduates, and 8,000 undergraduates in AI fields, alongside AI labs in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities and upgrades across 27 states and Union territories.
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