As India prepares to host its first India AI Impact Summit, the nation stands at the forefront of global conversations on safe, trusted, and inclusive Artificial Intelligence. In this exclusive interaction, Shri S. Krishnan, IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), shares insights with Nijhum Rudra and Priyanka Dua of Elets News Network about the government’s preparations, India’s AI ambitions, sovereign AI models, governance safeguards, and the broader vision for positioning India as a global AI leader.

The India AI Impact Summit is around the corner. What preparations has the Ministry undertaken to make this event successful?

We have been preparing for this summit for almost a year. The Hon’ble Prime Minister announced in February last year in Paris, during the AI Action Summit, that India would host the next global AI summit. Since then, we have been working extensively toward this moment.

We are now in the final lap. Preparations span venue arrangements, speaker coordination, delegate facilities, and a large expo showcasing AI innovation. Seven working groups have been deliberating on thematic areas for several months. Their inputs will shape the final declaration emerging from the summit.

There has been tremendous global interest. More than one lakh delegates have registered. The summit will host over 600 sessions, approximately 350 company booths, and 450 startup pods.

The main inaugural plenary will be held on 19th February, addressed by the Hon’ble Prime Minister and global leaders. Around 100 countries are expected to participate, 18 to 20 represented by Heads of State or Government, about 50 by Ministers, and others at official levels. There will also be a Leaders’ Plenary and a dedicated roundtable between the Prime Minister and global CEOs. On 18th February, the Prime Minister will host a dinner for Heads of State, Ministerial Delegates and Selected CEOs. This is truly a landmark global gathering.

Which prominent global CEOs are expected to attend?

We are expecting participation from distinguished leaders such as Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet and Google, Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, Shantanu Narayen, CEO of Adobe, Raj Subramaniam, CEO of FedEx, among many others. Many confirmations continue to come in.

How will the India AI Impact Summit help build a responsible AI ecosystem in India?

Collaboration is central to AI governance. As AI evolves, global cooperation is essential, not only in governance discussions but also in democratizing access to compute, models, and datasets, especially for countries in the Global South.

For India, the summit is an opportunity to strengthen its position as a leading AI ecosystem. I believe India can emerge as the AI usecase capital of the world, a place where maximum real-world AI applications are built and deployed.

The summit provides Indian startups and enterprises a platform to showcase innovations so that the world can learn from our experience in building scalable, inclusive AI solutions.

What challenges does India face in implementing AI at scale?

Key challenges globally, and in India, include:

• Availability of compute infrastructure
• Access to high-quality datasets
• Availability of skilled talent

However, India is well-positioned. The Stanford AI Vibrancy Index ranks India as the third most vibrant AI ecosystem globally, largely due to our talent base and growing research ecosystem.

Through the IndiaAI Mission, we have strengthened infrastructure access. Close to 10,000 datasets have been made available to support AI development, with new datasets being added every day. Many infrastructure and ecosystem challenges are being systematically addressed.

How is MeitY aligning the IndiaAI Mission with national priorities like Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), manufacturing, and inclusive growth?

Inclusion is central to our approach. AI must work for everyone. Our Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) initiatives, built on open, interoperable, and inclusive frameworks, have laid a strong foundation. These public digital stacks are available for innovators and startups to build upon.

• AI can significantly enhance DPI by:
• Leveraging existing datasets
• Improving service delivery efficiency
• Enhancing personalization and accessibility

Ultimately, India’s objective is clear: to put the human at the center of AI. That principle drives our alignment between AI, inclusive growth, and digital infrastructure.

What steps is the Ministry taking to reduce dependence on foreign AI models?

We are taking a balanced and pragmatic approach. First, we have awarded incentives to 12 institutions and startups working on building India’s first sovereign AI models. Some of these models are expected to be released in the coming weeks.

However, our intention is not to isolate ourselves. We will continue to use global open-source models where appropriate, particularly if they are hosted in India.

Additionally, we are developing an orchestration layer between models and applications. This ensures that data remains within Indian jurisdiction and control, while leveraging the reasoning capabilities of available models.

Our strategy is to build sovereign capability while remaining open and constructive in global collaboration.

With AI growing rapidly, how is India addressing ethics, bias, and privacy concerns?

Addressing bias is one reason we are building sovereign models tailored to Indian linguistic, cultural, and social contexts.

On privacy, we rely on the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act). It operationalizes the fundamental right to privacy recognized by the Supreme Court of India and mandates that personal data can only be processed with consent.

Together, sovereign model development and strong data protection law provide the foundation for ethical and trusted AI development.

Will the summit help attract more investment into India’s AI ecosystem?

Investment will be a byproduct, but not the primary objective. This is not an investment summit; it is a global dialogue platform. However, by showcasing India as a serious AI innovation hub:

1. Indian companies can offer AI services globally.
2. Global companies may see India as a preferred destination for AI investments.

We expect both outcomes to naturally follow.

A special souvenir is being launched at the summit, highlighting the impact of AI on governance. Your thoughts?

I appreciate the initiative. A souvenir documenting key developments, discussions, and milestones of the summit will serve as a meaningful keepsake. As it reaches international attendees, it will also showcase the scale and seriousness of AI development in India. It is a commendable effort.

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