India Among Top 5 AI Powers: Here’s Why the Country is Leading Globally

India has emerged as a global leader in artificial intelligence (AI), ranking among the top five countries in AI preparedness and adoption, according to a recent Stanford study. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw highlighted India as the third-largest AI power in the world, after the United States and China.

Here’s a detailed look at why India is making rapid strides in AI:

1. Global AI Ranking
Countries are ranked on the Global AI Index based on AI research and development, AI talent and skills, investment and startups, computing infrastructure, government policies, and adoption speed. India stands out as the only lower-middle-income country in the top three, with the following scores:

2. AI Skills Index
India has a vast and growing workforce skilled in AI, beyond just top companies and research labs. Among working women, AI skill penetration is 1.7 times the global average, surpassing even countries like the USA and Israel.

3. AI Readiness and Talent

• India has the third-largest startup ecosystem in the world, with over 300,000 startups and 113 unicorns.
• More than 6 million professionals work in the tech and AI ecosystem.
• India ranks second globally in contributions to AI projects on GitHub.

4. Government Support

• The India AI Mission has a budget of over ₹10,300 crore.
• Over 38,000 GPUs deployed for AI computing infrastructure.
• Training targets 10 million people in AI skills.

5. Digital Strength

• Over 1.43 billion people enrolled under Aadhaar, India’s digital ID system.
• 2,000+ crore digital transactions per month through UPI, the world’s largest real-time digital payment system.
• Reliable data and digital identity systems support AI adoption across sectors.

6. Areas of AI Adoption in India

• Government schemes: Identification and targeting.
• Healthcare: Disease detection.
• Agriculture: Crop advisory.
• Traffic management and city planning.
• Fraud detection and digital payment security.

7. Why India Ranks High Globally

• Largest digital population in the world.
• Millions of daily users of digital services.
• Strong digital ID and payment infrastructure.
• Rapidly growing AI talent and government support.

8. Why IMF Placed India in Second-Tier Group
The IMF focused on research output, supercomputing power, and expensive data centers, which places countries like the USA, China, and European nations at the top. However, India’s user base, adoption, and AI ecosystem growth place it in the top global group in practice.

Two-Tier Global AI Landscape

• Group A: High research output and computing power – USA, China, UK, Europe.
• Group B: High user adoption and ecosystem growth – India, Brazil, Indonesia.

India’s combination of massive digital adoption, government backing, and AI talent is making it a global AI powerhouse, securing its spot among the top five countries in AI.