India Launches National AI Strategy and Impact Summit 2026

The Government of India is executing a strategic transition from a consumer-driven economy to a global producer of artificial intelligence through the 2024 India AI Mission. Backed by a budget of Rs 10,372 crore, the initiative has deployed over 38,000 GPUs to provide affordable computing power to startups and academia. The government has also shortlisted twelve teams, including Sarvam AI and the IIT Bombay Consortium, to develop indigenous foundational models and large language models.

This national effort culminates in the India AI Impact Summit and Expo, scheduled for February 16-20, 2026, at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to inaugurate the event, which focuses on the pillars of People, Planet, and Progress. The summit aims to position India as the global AI service provider and use-case capital, attracting international leaders and CEOs from firms such as Google DeepMind and Anthropic.

Regional integration is being led by Uttar Pradesh, where Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is integrating AI into healthcare to improve maternal care and disease detection. Simultaneously, industry leaders via NASSCOM are coordinating the development of AI-ready telecom and power infrastructure, which officials describe as a strategic national asset. To secure these supply chains, India has been invited to join the US-led Pax Silica initiative. Supporting these technological leaps, the Startup India initiative has recognized over 207,000 ventures, generating nearly 22 lakh direct jobs as of late 2025.