Sector-driven model to guide India’s AI rules: Abhishek Singh

By Admin

17 Sep, 2025

India’s artificial intelligence (AI) journey is gaining momentum with the government’s IndiaAI Mission, designed not just as a regulatory framework but as a catalyst to boost private participation, indigenous innovation, and large-scale infrastructure development. According to Abhishek Singh, CEO of the IndiaAI Mission and Additional Secretary at MeitY, the future of AI regulation in India will follow a sector-driven model, ensuring flexibility while enabling growth.

A catalytic push with Rs 10,300 crore seed funding

The IndiaAI Mission is backed by an initial allocation of Rs 10,300 crore till 2029, positioned as a starting point rather than a cap. The goal is to attract over $10 billion in private investment, with significant commitments already visible in the form of data centre projects, GPU deployments, and indigenous AI model development.

Singh highlights that only Rs 1,000 crore has been utilized so far, reflecting the government’s approach of incentivising industry-led investment instead of direct infrastructure building. Companies like Yotta, E2E Networks, Jio, and international giants including Microsoft, Google, IBM, and OpenAI are stepping in, accelerating the growth of India’s AI ecosystem.

Building the backbone: Data centres and connectivity

Data centres form the foundation of AI, but they cannot exist in isolation. Singh explains that connectivity and energy are two critical ingredients. Most facilities are concentrated in Mumbai and Chennai due to undersea cables, but with a new cable in Visakhapatnam, fresh ecosystems are expected to emerge. Notably, about 30% of energy powering data centres already comes from renewable sources, aligning with India’s sustainability goals.

Governance: Sector-led, not overarching

Unlike countries exploring centralized AI regulators, India is taking a sectoral approach. Regulations will focus on applications rather than the technology itself, giving domain-specific regulators the authority to decide how AI tools are deployed. For instance, healthcare-related AI will be governed by the health ministry, ensuring contextual oversight without stifling innovation.

Singh stresses that the government’s aim is to encourage innovation instead of restricting it, making India’s AI rules flexible and industry-friendly.

Indigenous LLMs: Nurturing homegrown talent

The IndiaAI Mission is also prioritising the development of indigenous large language models (LLMs). Singh notes that while projects like Sarvam are in early stages, structured funding pipelines have already been announced for four additional models, with more on the way. This focus ensures that India builds competitive, scalable AI solutions tailored for its population and languages.

Private sector: The true driver of growth

While the government provides the initial impetus, Singh believes that market opportunities are the real driver of investment. With India emerging as OpenAI’s fastest-growing market, tech players see immense potential. Already, private players have deployed 38,000 GPUs worth Rs 20,000 crore, reflecting strong confidence in the Indian AI story.

Looking ahead

The IndiaAI Mission is still in its early days, but its design as a public-private growth engine positions India to become a global AI hub. The sector-driven regulatory model, backed by sustainable infrastructure, indigenous innovation, and massive private participation, could make India not just a consumer of AI but a creator of world-class AI solutions.

As Singh sums it up, the Rs 10,300 crore is not the finish line it’s just the beginning of a journey toward building a resilient, inclusive, and innovation-driven AI ecosystem.