New Delhi

India has unveiled an ambitious, full-stack artificial intelligence roadmap that positions the country as a serious contender in the next phase of the global technology race, with parallel progress across five strategic layers- applications, models, chips, infrastructure and energy, noted a report by Ventura.

The report says, speaking at the AI Impact Summit 2026, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw outlined what he termed a "whole-of-nation" approach to AI, aimed at building a "frugal, sovereign and scalable" ecosystem. The strategy seeks to ensure that India is not merely a consumer of global AI systems but a creator of foundational technologies.

At the services layer, India's IT majors are pivoting from traditional software maintenance to AI-led delivery models. Companies such as TCS, Infosys, Wipro and HCLTech are embedding generative AI and agentic workflows into enterprise offerings, collectively reskilling over a million employees to align with AI-as-a-Service (AIaaS) opportunities. This transition is expected to redefine India's global IT export profile over the next decade.

On the model layer, India is backing sovereign large language models (LLMs) tailored to multilingual and India-specific use cases. The government-backed BharatGen Param2 (17B) model, launched at the summit, is designed to support 22 Indian languages and multimodal capabilities. Indigenous platforms such as Sarvam AI and Krutrim are focusing on Indic language optimisation, document intelligence and cost-efficient inference, positioning themselves as viable alternatives for domestic enterprise and public sector adoption. While global models such as ChatGPT and Gemini retain scale advantages, Indian models aim to compete on localisation, affordability and data sovereignty.

The semiconductor layer marks a structural shift from design services to fabrication and packaging. Under the Semicon 2.0 mission, India is advancing both chip design and manufacturing capacity. Projects led by Tata Electronics, Micron Technology and CG Power and Industrial Solutions are expected to see commercial production beginning in 2026, with nearly 10 facilities in progress across states. The strategy aims to evolve from 28nm nodes toward advanced manufacturing while deepening domestic IP creation.

On infrastructure, India has outlined a projected investment pipeline of nearly USD 200 billion through 2030. Data centres alone account for over USD 100 billion in planned investments, with players such as AdaniConnex, Reliance Industries and Yotta Infrastructure expanding AI-focused capacity. Additionally, under the IndiaAI Mission, the government is procuring over 10,000 high-end GPUs to offer subsidised compute access to startups and researchers.

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Energy and telecom form the enabling backbone, with 5G and future 6G rollouts supporting real-time AI applications across India's vast digital base.

With sovereign models, domestic chip capacity and AI-native IT services converging, India's strategy signals a transition from digital services powerhouse to end-to-end AI ecosystem builder.