India’s path to global leadership lies in mastering technologies of the future

livemint.com:

This is part of a special series of articles by the country's foremost voices, ahead of Union Budget 2024, aiming to draw attention to the critical reforms that can help India in its journey to become a developed nation by 2047. In the last decade, India’s gross domestic product (GDP) has nearly doubled to $3.5 trillion, showcasing our resilience as one of the world’s fastest-growing major economies. As we envision Viksit Bharat by 2047, increasing our economic growth from 8% to 12% could transform India into a $50 trillion economy. The global landscape is witnessing rapid technological advancements, particularly in artificial intelligence (AI) and new energy.

Our peers, notably China, are investing heavily in ‘new productive forces’, transforming traditional industries and fostering emerging sectors. To drive India’s growth and competitiveness, we must prioritize AI and new energy as foundational technologies that can revolutionize our entire economy. In 1947, we won our political freedom.

In 2047, we must achieve our technological freedom. We need to create our own playbook for technological advancement—one that addresses our unique challenges and leverages our strengths. It’s about using tech not just for economic growth, but for societal transformation.

Building India’s own AI stack: While India’s economy has digitized significantly, our compute penetration remains low. Despite our huge success in information technology (IT) services, they represent just 1% of the $30 trillion global technology industry. Our global competitors have rapidly accelerated investments in AI, pouring hundreds of billions into research, infrastructure and talent.