India plans to raise $200 billion in data center investments over the next few years to become a hub for artificial intelligence, the country's electronics and information technology minister said today.
The investments underscore the tech giants' reliance on India as a key base for technology and talent in the global race for AI dominance, bringing high-value infrastructure and foreign capital at a scale that can accelerate India's digital transformation ambitions.
This comes at a time when governments around the world are racing to harness the economic potential of artificial intelligence, while simultaneously grappling with disruptions to existing jobs, regulation, and the growing concentration of computing power in a few wealthy countries and companies.
"Today, India is seen as a reliable partner to nations of the global south that are seeking open, accessible solutions focused on development," Indian Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said in an interview with the AP.
He spoke to the AP agency at a time when a major AI Impact Summit is taking place in New Delhi, attended by at least 20 global leaders, as well as prominent representatives of the technology industry.
In October last year, Google announced plans to invest $15 billion in India over the next five years to establish its first artificial intelligence center in the South Asian country. Two months later, Microsoft announced its largest investment in Asia to date – $17,5 billion to improve India’s cloud and artificial intelligence infrastructure over the next four years.
Amazon has also announced a $35 billion investment in India by 2030 to expand its operations, primarily targeting digitalization fueled by artificial intelligence. The cumulative investments are part of a $200 billion investment that New Delhi has announced and hopes to bring to the country.
Indian Minister Vaishnav said that India's position is that artificial intelligence must show measurable impact on a larger scale, and not remain an elite technology.
"A trusted AI ecosystem will attract investment and accelerate adoption," he said, adding that a fundamental pillar of India's strategy is infrastructure building.
The Indian government recently announced a long-term tax exemption for data centers, hoping to provide policy certainty and attract global capital.
Vaishnav said the government has already set up a shared computing centre with more than 38.000 graphics processing units (GPUs), giving startups, researchers and public institutions access to technologically advanced computers without a large upfront cost.
"Artificial intelligence must not become exclusive, it must remain widely available," said the Indian minister.
In addition to improving infrastructure, India is supporting the development of sovereign AI core models, trained in Indian languages and in local contexts.
"Some of these models meet global criteria and are better than widely used large language models on certain tasks," Vaishnav said.
India is also seeking to gain a greater role in shaping how AI is built and developed globally, as the country is seen as an active participant in setting practical, enforceable norms as the use of AI services expands around the world.
“India will become a leading provider of artificial intelligence services in the near future,” the minister said, describing a strategy that is both nationally focused and globally integrated – across applications, models, chips, infrastructure and energy.
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