NEW DELHI
: :
The next phase of India’s AI Mission will pivot toward building a marketplace to commercialize the models and applications built by the startups that were funded in its initial tranche, Abhishek Singh, additional secretary at the ministry of electronics and IT (MeitY) and chief executive of the IndiaAI Mission, said in an interview.
India’s first AI Mission was notified in March 2024 with a net budgetary outlay of ₹10,372 crore ($1.2 billion). It has funded a total of 12 startups, with net incentives given to them in the form of compute access worth. ₹Rs 2,194 crore.
speaking with mint on the sidelines of the AI ​​Impact Summit 2026, Singh said that the event has attracted more than 250,000 visitors so far, and that the ministry will actively incorporate feedback on the challenges faced during its first large-scale AI splash into next year’s plans.
He also defended MeitY’s decision to keep the expo open to the public, saying the goal was to showcase India’s AI capabilities to the widest possible audience rather than restrict access. Edited excerpts.
How has the expo fared in global reception?
The scale is huge. Almost all the top companies are showcasing the best of the products here, including what will be launched. Indian companies are also showing their progress. There are many new projects which exhibition stalls are showcasing. So the range of products and solutions which have been showcased is very huge. The investors, the venture capital (VC) funds, are spending more time on the startup pods for the next big thing.
Did an open exhibition dilute its efficacy?
Not really. India is a large country, and we have people from all sections. We had lots of university students who will be the next generation of entrepreneurs in startups, so we cannot limit it. We had people from all segments. In fact, the most positive feedback I have got from the VCs and investors is that they have seen real innovative solutions.
What will come in India AI Mission 2.0?
The focus will be to ensure more diffusion and adoption. In the first phase, we have done compute, foundational models and datasets. The next level is actual deployment at population scale, for which we will look to create a market for the startups that we have backed in AI Mission 1.0.
The expo is also giving us some ideas on identifying, procuring and deploying solutions, and state governments are also being consulted, so AI Mission 2.0 will be after thorough discussions, consultations with all the government departments and state governments. We need to ensure that use cases that have been developed, which run on Indian foundation models, are scaled up and deployed at population scale.
Do we expect it this year?
Currently we don’t have a shortage of funds, but for the next level, we are working with the states to ensure that whatever gaps are there, we fulfill.
How much have we spent from the current mission?
Not much, because we are not procuring GPUs and not doing capex—we are incentivizing end usage. The actual expenditure is much less, and the fund is sufficient.
Will our datasets platform be monetized?
Datasets are owned by data owners, so they have to lay down the policy for how the data will be shared. The provisions with regard to monetization, if at all it has to be done, (comes) under the purview of the national data sharing and accessibility policy. The objective is to ensure that datasets are available. The objective is to ensure the researchers and entrepreneurs are able to use the datasets for training models and building applications—monetization will be decided by those who own the data, not the government.
Can AI models showcased here be successful?
We are not trying to do something because some other countries have done something. We are trying to build something that can solve India’s problems.
Are global investors satisfied with the Summit?
I don’t know what they will have to answer. We have to present what we have, and what I am hearing is that some global officers will be making some announcements.
Will the AI ​​Summit declaration be effective?
The declaration is not binding, but whenever countries meet, they agree on principles—which helps in defining policies. We hosted GPAI (Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence), which led to the India AI Mission’s approval. These agreements, thus, help build momentum for us. Here, all government departments have come—so be it health, agriculture, telecom or even animal husbandry, they all are thinking of AI applications.
Your view on IT stocks declining?
They need to ensure that entry-level jobs, which are impacted by AI, are given basic AI skills. They all are working on that.
Should skilling be led by the government?
The government enables the role of people who are in universities and colleges, who are seeking jobs. There should be a role for the government, but the industry plays the main role. The industry skills only people that are already employed. We have to skill people who are not yet in the job market.
