Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw met IBM CEO Arvind Krishna and Meta Chief Global Affairs Officer Joel Kaplan at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos today. In a social media post, the Minister said that the world looks at India as a key driver of global innovation.

 

Mr Vaishnaw said that an investment worth 70 billion US dollars is confirmed in AI infrastructure. He said that in the next 12 months, another investment of 50 billion US dollars is expected. Mr Vaishnaw said that through the India AI Impact summit, which is scheduled for next month, the country will make sure that technology is not only accessible to India but to the global south as well.

 

He firmly rejected the International Monetary Fund Chief’s remark calling India a second-tier AI power. Citing Stanford rankings, he said India stands third globally in AI preparedness.

 

The Minister noted that India now has nearly 2 lakh startups and is among the top three startup ecosystems globally. He mentioned that there has been a fundamental shift over the last decade, with a growing focus on deep tech. He expressed confidence that India will be among the top four or five semiconductor nations globally.

 

Mr Vaishnaw outlined India’s semiconductor strategy, noting that nearly 75 per cent of global chip volume lies in the 28 to 90 nanometer range, covering applications such as electric vehicles, automobiles, railways, defence systems, telecom equipment and a large share of consumer electronics. He said India has a clearly mapped path to have 7-nanometer technologies by 2030.