India's $200B AI Bet: Schools Get AI Devices, Vaishnaw Unveils Infra Push

Speaking to YourStory Founder Shradha Sharma on the sidelines of the India-AI Impact Summit 2026, Vaishnaw elaborated on the opportunities, investments, and innovation momentum expected from the global gathering.

The AI Impact Summit, regarded as one of the world's major forums on artificial intelligence, is hosting extensive deliberations on ethical AI, regulatory frameworks, and the role of advanced technologies in reshaping industries and public services.

The five-day summit has drawn participation from more than 110 countries and 30 international organisations, including about 20 heads of state or government and nearly 45 ministers, making it one of the largest gatherings focused on AI governance and cooperation.

Reflecting on India's progress in the sector, Vaishnaw said: "The country is moving very rapidly on the entire AI and five layers of this tag. We have seen huge interest from investors, VCs and young people who are so energetic and positive about using this new technology."

He noted that several large-scale solutions have emerged during the summit.

"I'm so happy that India will be bringing that next healthcare model, next agricultural productivity model, which will certainly be our contribution to the world," he said.

Highlighting the scale of investment commitments, the Minister said the summit has catalysed investments of close to $200 billion in the infrastructure layer.

In addition, around $17 billion has been committed in the deep-tech and application layers, where, he said, venture capital firms are showing keen interest.

"So the world has a lot of trust in India's capabilities to produce AI-based solutions, give the models, bring that next level of innovation and create those solutions which are at a population scale," Vaishnaw said.

Addressing young developers and entrepreneurs, he underlined the need to prepare the education ecosystem for what he described as the fifth industrial revolution.

"The talent pipeline is going to increase even further. We would like our schools and colleges to be kind of prepared for this new industrial revolution, the fifth industrial revolution," he said.

Vaishnaw added that academic curricula are being revised and will be rolled out to institutions soon after the summit concludes. "We'll be working on the next version of the AI mission, where we'll be able to provide AI solutions and AI technology-based devices, which can then be used by the students to create solutions and learn the technology, and be familiar with it. AI diffusion is going to be a big thing in our country," he said.

Asked about government support for startups operating across the AI spectrum, the Union Minister assured continued backing.

"A lot of support. And as I said, close to $17 billion in funding has been committed by some of the very good, credible VC firms. We will be supporting the startups in that journey," he said.

He pointed out that India has emerged as one of the top three startup ecosystems globally.

"As you know, our Honourable Prime Minister has created the country as one of the top three startup ecosystems in the world. We have more than 2 lakh startups now, which were pretty much 400 or 500 only a decade ago. The world today recognises the entrepreneurial energy that our people have. So we will be supporting our startups in a big way," he said.

Expressing optimism about the semiconductor sector, Vaishnaw said: "I believe that in semiconductors, we'll have some 50 deep tech startups coming in the next few years. This will happen in our country. We have lots and lots of talent, lots of entrepreneurial energy."

He further indicated that commercial production in the semiconductor space is imminent.

"On semiconductor, very soon we'll have the commercial production from one of the 10 units. Stay tuned for the next announcement when that commercial production will start," he added.

The AI Impact Summit has brought together global leaders, policymakers and technology experts to deliberate on the transformative potential of artificial intelligence in driving economic growth, improving governance and accelerating social development.

The event seeks to align global AI initiatives with India's civilisational ethos of 'Sarvajana Hitaya, Sarvajana Sukhaya (welfare for all, happiness for all)' while promoting the broader principle of AI for Humanity.

The India-AI Impact Summit 2026 is the fourth edition in the series, following previous meetings held in the United Kingdom in 2023, South Korea in 2024, and France in 2025.

The platform enables leaders to examine the ethical, economic, and social implications of artificial intelligence while strengthening partnerships across digital technology, trade, culture, tourism, and maritime cooperation.

- IANS