Big things happen when people work together. In 1974, a small group of Taiwanese engineers met for breakfast. Back then, Taiwan mostly had simple, labour-heavy factories. But this group realised other countries would soon beat them at that. So they decided Taiwan must move into high-tech work. Just four years later, Taiwan was not only making computer chips but had also become one of the top makers of digital watches.

Now it’s February again, and leaders from around the world have come to Delhi for the India AI Impact Summit 2026. They will discuss the future of Artificial Intelligence (AI). But the real question is: What does India want from all this?

India has an official statement saying AI should help people, protect the planet, and support progress. That sounds great, but reality is tougher.

People: Many are scared that AI may take away lots of office jobs.

Planet: AI uses huge amounts of electricity and water.

Progress: It’s hard to grow if these problems aren’t solved.

So India can’t just rely on good intentions. To succeed in AI, it needs strong basics: its own research, data centres, big AI models, and apps that people love to use.

It’s true that the United States is far ahead in AI right now. But that doesn’t mean others can’t catch up. The US was also ahead in things like semiconductors and rare-earth materials in the past, but other countries eventually built strong industries too. AI is still very new, so the race isn’t over.

India has already started well: It built BharatGen, an AI model that knows more than 22 Indian languages. States like Andhra Pradesh have attracted huge investments for data centres. IIT Madras has become a startup hub that has pulled in more than $2 billion in funding. But now India needs to speed up.

The government and private companies must spend more on research and development (R&D). R&D doesn’t cost as much as building data centres, but it is the foundation of real progress. Since AI infrastructure needs tens of billions of dollars, India will need foreign investment too. But good Indian projects shouldn’t get stuck just because of money shortages.

The government’s job should be to help researchers and companies work smoothly—removing hurdles instead of creating new ones.

India already has a vision. Now it’s time for everyone to come together and make it happen.

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