Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday mentioned India was not simply main within the adoption of synthetic intelligence, but additionally shaping how AI is ruled.
Talking on the sixth convocation of the Indian Institute of Info Expertise (IIIT) Kottayam, Sitharaman mentioned that India was not simply prepared for AI, however the demand for AI-driven options was additionally excessive within the nation.
She mentioned this was evident from the truth that the nation recorded 3 billion AI-related app downloads in 2024, whereas the US and China had just one.5 billion and 1.3 billion downloads, respectively.
The Finance Minister additionally mentioned that India being made the co-chair on the current AI Motion Summit in Paris was a recognition of the nation’s international place within the sector.
She famous that on the summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had emphasised that AI was not only a matter of nationwide significance however a worldwide duty.
“What he (Modi) mentioned offers us a really large message—use AI, however use it responsibly. Don’t misuse it, don’t use it unethically.
“So, it is extremely essential for us to have AI that’s moral, inclusive, and reliable,” she mentioned.
Sitharaman additionally outlined the steps taken by the central authorities within the area of AI, beginning with the India AI mission, which was introduced with a funds outlay of Rs 10,300 crore for constructing computing infrastructure, growing indigenous AI capabilities, attracting AI expertise from all over the world, and financing AI startups.
“India is not only experimenting with AI. We’re not simply speaking about AI or researching it. We are literally implementing it at scale and throughout varied sectors,” Sitharaman mentioned, including that this has been recognised by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.
Throughout her speech, Sitharaman additionally referred to India’s achievements within the area of innovation and patenting.
She mentioned that India’s rating within the International Innovation Index had improved to 39 out of 133 international locations in 2024, up from 81 in 2015.
Sitharaman additionally highlighted that India’s patents-to-GDP ratio—which measures the financial influence of patent exercise—had risen to 381 in 2023 from 144 in 2013, indicating important progress in innovation and patenting.
“In addition to that, India holds the seventh place in intangible asset depth, surpassing the expansion price of many high-income economies and matching the intangible funding depth of Germany and Japan,” she mentioned on the occasion.
She added that each one these achievements indicated that the nation was transferring in the fitting route, whereas additionally needing to additional enhance its efficiency.
“We’re transferring in direction of larger innovation and larger self-reliance,” she added.
Sitharaman additionally congratulated the scholars who graduated from IIIT Kottayam and, on the similar time, urged them to make sure that incidents just like the current ragging case at a nursing faculty in Kerala don’t occur at their institute.
“We don’t want that. We are not looking for anybody to even playfully harass different college students. We have to assist each other, be higher people, and grow to be accountable kids in order that we are able to construct a shiny future for the nation,” Sitharaman mentioned as she concluded her speech.
