India's AI Journey: Innovation, Societal Impact, and Privacy by Design Speakers extensively discussed India's entrepreneurial spirit, aspirations in the AI space, and a responsible application of cutting-edge technology, among other pertinent topics.

"... We can be among the global top 10 most innovative countries of the world…"

Ramanan Ramanathan, former Mission Director of the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and Additional Secretary at NITI Aayog, set the narrative for India's next round of entrepreneurial journey which could be propelled by democratised technology.

Speaking at a panel discussion at the recently held Entrepreneur Summit 2025 in New Delhi, Ramanathan said that India had a tremendous potential as the country sits at a unique pole position where the economy is rising and simultaneously, technology is becoming increasingly accessible and affordable.

The panel discussion was also joined by Dr Neeta Verma, the Chief Advisor (Information Technology) to the Election Commission of India, and Dr Anita Gupta, Head of the Climate, Energy and Sustainable Technologies (CEST) Vertical at the Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India.

Speakers extensively discussed India's entrepreneurial spirit, aspirations in the AI space, and a responsible application of cutting-edge technology, among other pertinent topics.

Tryst with Artificial Intelligence

So far, India has remained a lot behind in the AI race and has only recently started making serious efforts to catch up with its counterparts in the West and China.

Just last year, the government launched an 'IndiaAI Mission' with an objective to bolster India's global leadership in AI and democratize the benefits of AI across all strata of society.

Even as the government is trying to facilitate LLM development through public-private partnerships, there's a lot of activity in the private sector. For instance, Reliance has partnered with Nvidia whereas a bunch of AI-focused startups have emerged in the last couple of years. Moreover, a lot of existing startups and companies have begun integrating AI in their operations.

Ramanathan believes that India is in a position to become global leaders not just in providing AI services but also to become an AI hub for the world. He added that India is fully capable of building great products and solutions because there's a huge demand and it can tap into the rising middle class economy and demography.

"We already have 300 million people in the middle class rising economy, but we are going to add another 300 million people. And when we are adding such, we need to fulfil that demand. And to fulfil that demand, you need the best of technologies and the best of solutions to come out," he said.

Ramanathan also stressed the need for leading the societal impact aspect of AI.

"... We have 650,000 villages, 750 districts, 8,000 small towns and cities, and we have 115 districts which are called aspirational districts, which are at the bottom of the pyramid in terms of basic access to healthcare, education, clean drinking water, and sanitation. AI, because of the data that we are generating, because of all of this huge amount of resources that we have, has the opportunity to have great societal impact by implementing solutions which are societal friendly," he noted.

Ramanathan pointed out that India is one of the youngest countries in terms of demography with 65% of the population, which is approximately 1.4 billion, under the age of 35, and nearly 50% are under the age of 25.

"Now, this energy that is coursing through the nation is a very powerful transformational energy. And how do you convert that? That is requiring innovation and entrepreneurship," he said.

Sustainable play

Energy has been under the spotlight for a long time with India becoming a key player in the sector. The country has a unique challenge to not only cut carbon emissions but at the same time keep the economy growing at a relatively fast pace.

India has already vowed to reduce carbon emissions by 50% by 2030, and achieve net zero by 2070. The country has also made great strides in embracing green energy. Just this year, India overtook Germany to become the third largest generator of wind and solar power.

There are several government-backed initiatives such as PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana, PM-KUSUM Scheme, and PLI scheme for manufacturing of high efficiency solar PV modules in India.

India has also forged global partnerships such as International Solar Alliance (ISA) and One Sun, One World, One Grid (OSOWOG).

Dr Anita Gupta points out that climate and energy are going to be the next big thing for a decade and beyond, and AI can play a pivotal role in the country's green efforts.

She also highlighted the recently held Mission Innovation Ministerial where India and other participants discussed energy for AI and AI for energy. Echoing Nandan Nilekani's idea for a UPI-like innovation for energy, Gupta said India has the full potential for an energy revolution which will see deep involvement of all citizens.

"Take for example, in the rural part, how our rural people can be producers, consumers, and sellers of energy through biomass, solar rooftops, EVs, and energy storage. So, if we really want to envision that India in the years to come, uh, UPI and married with the digital stack, Unified Energy Interface, if we really really blend all these, I think India can really showcase the world the way through technology we can really lead our transformational journey through a variety of avenues," she said.

Gupta also called for a sector-focused approach and work on key 10 or 12 areas of technologies, and percolate down to rural India as well for an equitable and inclusive growth for India.

AI, Innovation, and Privacy

Despite India's impressive advancements in technological innovation in recent years, several fundamental challenges have continued to persist, specifically concerning user privacy and accountability for data protection. Now with the increasing integration of AI into the digital lives of users, safeguarding their privacy has become more important than ever.

India has been making efforts to have a comprehensive law or set of laws for users' privacy and data protection. This year, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) opened draft rules under the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDD) Act for public consultation.

Dr Neeta Verma stressed that stakeholders need to build products and solutions including AI-based that have privacy by design as an embedded principle.

"Do not think that I'll embed, I'll put these things as an afterthought. So, be it anonymisation, be it what do you call it, encryption, or be it consent based system, all these things have to be part of your solution, whichever you are building it," she said.

"So, be it anonymisation, be it what do you call it, encryption, or be it consent based system, all these things have to be part of your solution, whichever you are building it. The second thing which is very important is to bring in a lot of transparency. When you are, especially when your startups or entrepreneurs are building up new solutions, at the first, bring this transparency with the user, that whatever data you are collecting, what data you are collecting, how are you really going to use this data going forward, and be upfront, very clear about it," she added.

Verma also lauded Digiyatra for bringing innovation as well as following principles of data protection.

Digiyatra is essentially a digital initiative by the Ministry of Civil Aviation in India, which leverages facial recognition technology to provide a paperless, contactless, and seamless airport experience to people.

"...So, with kind of AI, kind of edge computing, and the kind of infrastructure we have today, it is very much possible to capture this data, use it, but at the same time, keep it, follow all those principles of data protection and privacy, and I think we should abide by this, but with innovation so that we can leave our this thing…," she said.

Verma also called upon private players and others to leverage public digital platforms that are operated by the government such as Aadhar and UPI.

"Because these institutions have already established themselves. They not only help you in building that trust, but at the same time, they also cut down your costs to run this business. They help you scale quickly, they help you build quickly. So, if you follow these small, small things and build your solutions, I don't see it's a challenge, it's more of an opportunity if you go forward," she noted.