The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) hosted a series of pre-summit events for the upcoming India–AI Impact Summit 2026 at the India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2025 in New Delhi, showcasing India’s growing strides in artificial intelligence. The Summit, scheduled for 19–20 February 2026 at Bharat Mandapam, aims to highlight AI’s potential for inclusive, safe, and sustainable growth across the digital and telecom ecosystem.
In his inaugural address, Shri S. Krishnan, Secretary MeitY, emphasized India’s frugal, innovative, and globally replicable approach to AI development. “In partnership with the private sector and accessible to the public sector, our model ensures availability for all with the least resources. Several international agencies have found this approach appealing for replication in the Global South,” he noted.
The pre-summit featured high-level discussions bringing together government, industry, and academic leaders to explore India’s AI roadmap. Four panels addressed key dimensions: AI in Telecom for Social and Economic Impact, Building Trustworthy AI, Developing AI Workforce Advantage, and AI for Inclusive Growth and Social Empowerment. These discussions underscored India’s commitment to leveraging AI for societal good, economic resilience, and equitable development.
Shri Abhishek Singh, Additional Secretary MeitY and CEO of IndiaAI, highlighted the availability of 38,000 GPUs at just ₹65/hour and reported that 12 Indian companies are currently developing foundation models, with a national large language model (LLM) expected to launch by the end of 2025. “The IndiaAI Mission addresses key gaps by enabling affordable compute, national data platforms, foundation models, AI skilling, and trustworthy AI deployment,” he said.
Smt Kavita Bhatia, COO of IndiaAI, noted AI’s transformative role in telecom—from predictive maintenance and customer engagement to financial inclusion—stressing the importance of trustworthy and resilient networks. The pre-summit also showcased participation from major industry players, including Reliance Jio, TCS, Airtel, AWS, Microsoft, Google, and academic institutions like BITS Pilani, alongside global organizations such as UNESCO.
The MeitY Pavilion at IMC received the Best Exhibitor – Government award for its interactive showcase of India’s AI journey. The India–AI Impact Summit 2026 will focus on three guiding sutras—People, Planet, and Progress—and seven thematic chakras, including human capital, inclusion, safe AI, resilience, science, democratizing AI resources, and AI for social good, reflecting India’s vision for equitable, sustainable, and globally impactful AI.