The article discusses India’s approach to artificial intelligence (AI), emphasising efforts to make AI accessible and beneficial for the entire population rather than just elite technology sectors. As India hosts the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi, the government’s strategy prioritises inclusion before innovation, modeling AI roll‑out on earlier digital public infrastructure successes like Aadhaar and UPI. According to officials, the goal is to embed AI tools into everyday services — from agriculture and healthcare to governance and education — so that citizens across economic and linguistic divides can benefit.
A central pillar of this strategy is treating AI as public infrastructure. India has integrated AI into systems that help farmers monitor crop health and anticipate pest threats, support doctors with diagnostic tools, and enable telemedicine in remote regions. A national language‑translation platform called Bhashini — supporting over two dozen Indian languages — has reached more than a million downloads, helping break down digital barriers for non‑English speakers. This reflects a broader philosophy that AI should serve social impact and broad usability rather than remaining confined to commercial products.
To lower barriers to AI innovation, India has established shared resources like AIKosh, which provides open access to thousands of datasets and reusable models that developers can adapt, and subsidised AI computing under the IndiaAI Mission, making high‑end GPU access far more affordable for startups and researchers. National supercomputing facilities like PARAM Siddhi‑AI and AIRAWAT further support research in areas such as language processing and drug discovery. Investment in homegrown semiconductor capabilities and clean energy for data centres is also part of ensuring long‑term technological sovereignty and sustainable AI development.
India is also focusing on skills and education to build an AI‑literate society, from early school programmes to PhD support and AI labs in smaller cities. Initiatives aim to develop not just engineers but a population capable of using and understanding AI responsibly. In line with a Global South perspective, India is advocating that AI be treated as a global public good, forging partnerships to make infrastructure and tools accessible internationally. The overarching message is that democratising AI, rooted in public access and social purpose, can drive equitable development — potentially setting a model for other developing nations.
