Resolution
National Council Meeting, Jaipur (Rajasthan) - 7-8 March 2026
Artificial Intelligence and the Indian Perspective
The entire world is shaken by the impact of AI. There is intense deliberation on this issue because, on one hand, AI is making life easier, accelerating decision-making speed, making business analysis more accurate, improving and making medical diagnosis more affordable, enabling the creation of more digital products, and promoting a new economy commonly known as the ‘Orange Economy,’ while on the other hand, there looms a heavy threat of unemployment on Indian population, which is already grappling with a lack of employment opportunities it's youth. In this changing global scenario, a crucial question before India is whether it will remain merely a consumer of artificial intelligence, or play a leading role in this field based on its indigenous technological capabilities and innovation. While India cannot ignore technological changes like the AI-driven industrial revolution, with AI tools and infrastructure in the hands of a few large companies, the data that is strengthening these AI giants is coming from developing countries like ours. In such a situation, we cannot remain silent spectators to digital colonization. Not only that, because AI is under the dominance of large corporations and foreign companies, it is becoming a source of biased information. Private data is also being transferred to companies. The human values that children previously received from their parents are now being imparted through AI, increasing the risk of their confusion. AI is, in a way, becoming an agent for providing incorrect information. The safety of ignorant children is also being put at risk because of it.
Although large technology companies maintain control over AI tools and infrastructure, India has played a leading role globally in building Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and in the large-scale use of AI/data technologies for identification and authentication. With the help of the JAM Trinity—namely Jan Dhan bank accounts, Aadhaar, and mobile banking—the government is facilitating the creation and implementation of welfare schemes like Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), housing for the poor, and many other schemes, and has succeeded in almost eliminating corruption and improving service delivery. AI can play an important role in many sectors including agriculture, health, education, urban and infrastructure development.
India's position is unique because it has three fundamental resources available for AI development that are present together in very few countries in the world – 1. Vast intellectual capacity and technical talent; 2. Extensive and diverse data structure and 3. A developed Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI). It is only through the appropriate combination of these three resources that India can develop an indigenous and inclusive model in the field of artificial intelligence. Employment is a major victim of AI and wiping out jobs in all sectors has become a reality. Media, entertainment, call centers, and even the software sector have started feeling the impact of AI. Large factories produce goods with the help of AI-supported computer programs, leading to massive unemployment. This is creating fear in society that even bigger jobs may be lost in the future.
The Economic Survey 2025-26 released by the Government of India also states that due to India's size and its relatively low per capita income, the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be greater in the Indian labor market. It warns that indiscriminate adoption of AI by companies will worsen everyone's situation and harm the country's growth potential. The survey states, “The government will have to impose taxes on the profits from replacing labor with technology.” Since the US and China dominate AI in terms of ownership and since most users are from developing countries including India, these users are also the source of the data being used by these AI platforms. Countries like ours remain dependent on foreign-owned AI platforms. In this process, developing countries are also losing data sovereignty. Due to the dominance of AI owned by these tech giants, small players—including small and cottage industries, service enterprises, and workers—are at a disadvantage. We also see undue influence of big tech companies in policymaking.
Despite its shortcomings, given the benefits of AI, the challenge before policymakers is how AI can serve humanity equitably. For this, there is a need for a strong Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) in the country, through which the development and use of AI technologies can be facilitated equitably for common people. High-speed internet connectivity, the first prerequisite for AI development, is essential to enable seamless data flow. The good news is that due to the communication revolution, India has the world's second-largest mobile network. Indigenous 4G networks have been expanded almost across the country and the country has also developed its own indigenous 5Gi network. India takes pride for being the land of the cheapest data. Further, for uninterrupted AI growth, the country needs a strong data infrastructure for collecting, storing, processing, and sharing data while ensuring data quality, security, and privacy. This is another form of digital Infrastructure for uninterrupted growth of AI. The country also needs indigenous AI platforms that do not depend solely on foreign technologies but provide indigenous frameworks for the development, deployment, and management of AI aligned with the country's data, languages, needs, and security interests. A cyber security framework is an essential part of the digital infrastructure for AI. There is a need to build a strong cyber security framework to protect AI systems, data and infrastructure from cyber threats and attacks. Finally, but most importantly, digital literacy programs are needed today so that citizens, businesses and governments can be informed about AI, its usage and benefits.
We must understand that promoting AI and harnessing its benefits for the good of society and the economy is essential, and for this, building the right Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) is necessary, along with the need to regulate it through the right government policies so that we can promote healthy AI. Therefore, we must adopt a dual policy of development and regulation, so that AI can be democratized, made available equitably to everyone and can be utilised for the welfare of all. For self-reliant AI in India, it is necessary to swiftly adopt required measures such as semiconductors, chip design, data centers, infrastructure, energy integration, education, and skill development, etc. The democratization of artificial intelligence is essential, which means that AI technology should not remain limited to big companies or powerful institutions, but reach every section of society so that farmers and students as well as all other ordinary people can benefit from it.
