OPINION | Union budget 2025: An opportunity to advance India’s position in global AI landscape

As India stands at the cusp of an unprecedented technological transformation, the Union budget 2025 presents a major opportunity to strengthen the country’s position in the global AI landscape. The rapid evolution of artificial intelligence is reshaping economies worldwide, and with thoughtful fiscal planning, India can accelerate its digital transformation while ensuring inclusive growth.

The foundation for India’s AI revolution has been laid through commendable initiatives like Digital India and the National Strategy on Artificial Intelligence (NSAI). However, to fully realize AI’s potential, we need to focus on three crucial pillars: infrastructure development, talent cultivation, and innovation ecosystem support.

Infrastructure remains a key priority. While India has made significant progress in establishing AI research centers and supercomputing facilities, we need to expand our computational infrastructure across tier-1 and tier-2 cities. This expansion should emphasize green computing initiatives, ensuring our AI infrastructure growth aligns with our climate commitments. A comprehensive high-speed fibre network connecting these facilities would democratise access to computing resources for startups and researchers nationwide.

The talent gap in AI requires careful attention. As someone working closely with India’s tech ecosystem, I have observed how the shortage of skilled AI professionals can impact innovation. The budget could support the establishment of AI centers of excellence in partnership with educational institutions. These centers should focus not just on technical training but also on interdisciplinary AI education, combining computer science with domain expertise in healthcare, agriculture, and manufacturing.

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A comprehensive AI skilling programme could target professionals across various sectors. This could include incentives for companies investing in AI training programmes and support for online AI education platforms. The budget might also consider provisions for international faculty exchange programmes to enhance knowledge sharing.

Innovation in AI requires sustained support. A dedicated innovation fund focusing on early-stage AI startups, combined with appropriate incentives for private investors, could significantly boost the ecosystem. Regulatory sandboxes across major cities would allow startups to test their solutions in controlled environments while ensuring compliance with evolving regulations.

Data infrastructure deserves special consideration. India’s unique position with initiatives like India Stack provides us an unprecedented advantage. Creating standardised, anonymized datasets across sectors like healthcare, agriculture, and urban planning would accelerate AI development while ensuring privacy and security.

Sector-specific AI applications too need focused attention. In agriculture, AI initiatives could support crop prediction, precision farming, and supply chain optimisation. Healthcare AI could advance diagnostic tools, telemedicine, and drug discovery platforms. Manufacturing could benefit from AI applications in robotics, predictive maintenance, and quality control systems.

The customer experience sector, which employs millions of Indians, perfectly exemplifies the transformative potential of AI integration. Voice analytics, intelligent routing systems, and predictive customer engagement tools are revolutionising how businesses connect with customers across India’s diverse markets.

The integration of vernacular AI voice technologies and natural language processing tools that understand India’s varied linguistic landscape could unlock tremendous value. These technologies not only improve operational efficiency but also create opportunities for meaningful employment in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, contributing to distributed economic growth.

Further, the ethical implications of AI development cannot be overlooked. Supporting research in responsible AI development and establishing frameworks for algorithmic accountability would ensure AI solutions remain unbiased and serve all sections of society.

To enhance global competitiveness, we should consider ways to attract multinational companies to establish their AI research centers in India. Streamlined processes and supportive policies could make India an attractive destination for global AI investment.

As we prepare for this transformative budget, the focus should remain on creating an AI ecosystem that drives economic growth while ensuring social equity. This includes supporting AI literacy programmes in regional languages and encouraging AI applications that address grassroots-level challenges.

The 2025 budget represents an opportunity to advance India’s position in the global AI landscape. Through balanced investments and policy support, we can build an AI ecosystem that serves India’s needs while contributing to global AI development. The path ahead requires collaboration between government, industry, and academia to realize this vision.

Apurv Agrawal is the CEO and co-founder of Squadstack. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of THE WEEK.

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