India’s AI Decade Begins, But Mind The Gap

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There’s a strange dissonance when one talks about India and AI. This month, the Indian IT services industry was hit by the so-called “SaaSpocalypse”, and the brute power of AI became evident to anyone who had any doubts about it. Tech companies across the globe felt the heat, tumbling on their respective exchanges, and Indian tech giants were no exception.

As the dust engulfing the bearish sentiment began to settle, India’s capital, New Delhi, has become home to holographic displays, mega exhibitions and high-level discussions on the future of AI, regulations, and infrastructure problems at its core.

Hundreds of billions of dollars have been committed for the AI vision that’s central to the India AI Impact Summit, which kicked off Monday (February 16, 2026). While the India AI Impact Summit is undoubtedly commendable for its scale and its ability to attract the biggest names in the world, the first day of the summit was plagued with issues related to access and security.

Some founders even bemoaned the loss of belongings and their proprietary hardware due to the on-ground confusion and mismanagement between various security officials.

While this has tainted some of the celebratory atmosphere around the summit, we remained focussed on graver issues surrounding AI and its clout in the country.

For one, does India have the right priorities when it comes to AI? And do we really want to lead the AI race, or just rent intelligence from those who already do?

“To align with the vision of Viksit Bharat@2047, the sector needs to achieve $750–850 Bn in annual revenue by 2035 to sustain a 7–8% share of GDP, and expand its global market share beyond 25%. However, current trajectories indicate a $250–300 Bn shortfall, underscoring the need for decisive action,” declares Niti Aayog in its “India’s Technology Services – Reimagination Ahead,” report, published ahead of the India AI Impact Summit.

“To align with the vision of Viksit Bharat@2047, the sector needs to achieve $750–850 Bn in annual revenue by 2035 to sustain a 7–8% share of GDP, and expand its global market share beyond 25%. However, current trajectories indicate a $250–300 Bn shortfall, underscoring the need for decisive action,” declares Niti Aayog in its “India’s Technology Services – Reimagination Ahead,” report, published ahead of the India AI Impact Summit.

The report says India’s objective should be to maintain the share of GDP for IT services at 7-8% as per current numbers, which makes for odd reading considering that India should be gunning for a higher share of GDP for the IT sector in the future. After all, these are the areas that........

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