India Aims to Become Global AI Application Capital, Says Ashwini Vaishnaw

India is positioning itself to become the world's artificial intelligence (AI) application capital, with a focus on deploying AI models across industries and public services, Union Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Friday.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the launch of the Semicon 2.0 Web Application Portal, Vaishnaw said the global AI industry was undergoing rapid changes, with further developments expected as the technology evolves.

“We in India are very focused on making India the application capital of the world,” he said.

Vaishnaw said the emphasis was on translating advances in AI models into practical applications across sectors, particularly agriculture, healthcare and education. He added that Indian companies were making progress in developing such applications.

SEMICON 2.0 PORTAL OPENS APPLICATIONS

The minister said the Semicon 2.0 portal had been designed to accept only applications that were complete in all respects, with the aim of attracting serious participants from the semiconductor industry.

“A special focus has been placed on preparing this portal that portals should accept only those applications which are complete in all respect,” he said, adding that the objective was to ensure that only serious players participated.

“There is no place for frivolous applicants,” he said.

Vaishnaw also announced that applications would begin to be accepted under pillars two, three and four of the semiconductor programme from Friday. He said the move would help expand India's semiconductor and electronics manufacturing ecosystem.

INDIGENOUS GPU ROADMAP BEING FINALISED

The minister said the roadmap for developing an indigenous graphics processing unit (GPU) chip was being finalised.

He also pointed to the growth of design capabilities in the country, saying that new developments were emerging across the sector. According to Vaishnaw, 50 per cent of the units approved under the programme were small and medium enterprises (SMEs) or micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

PUSH TO BUILD DOMESTIC COMPONENT SUPPLY CHAINS

Vaishnaw highlighted India's expanding capacity to manufacture components and materials used in electronics production, including battery cells, copper foils and copper-clad laminates for printed circuit boards (PCBs).

He said the government was working to deepen domestic manufacturing across the electronics value chain through individual programmes and project approvals.

“Today we are making the entire battery cell. We are making copper foils. We are making copper-clad laminates for PCBs,” he said, adding that India was moving deeper into different stages of the manufacturing process.

With inputs from ANI