Following the news that Nirmala Sitharaman, India’s finance minister, has proposed three centers of excellence (CoEs) for artificial intelligence (AI) in the Union Budget for 2023;

Shri Charan Padala, Principal Analyst in the Thematic Intelligence team at GlobalData, offers his view:

“The Union Budget 2023 has sparked a new era in India’s rapidly evolving technology landscape. The government demonstrated its proactive stance in embracing emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) by announcing three CoEs.

“In recent years, the government has been driving AI adoption for several applications, including biometric identification, facial recognition, hotspot analysis, criminal investigations, managing traffic and crowds, women’s safety wearables, forest revenue optimization, and digital agriculture.

“The AI CoEs will largely focus on healthcare. Using AI, medical professionals can benefit from accurate diagnoses and personalized patient management, while natural language processing (NLP) technologies can classify medical documentation and automate various administrative tasks.

“India’s cost advantage, abundant availability of skilled talent, and evolving data protection regulations make it a desirable location for AI companies seeking to expand. The recently enacted Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2022 aims to balance users’ right to protect their data with the need for lawful data processing while reducing the compliance burden for India’s growing data-centric startup community and small businesses.

“A thriving startup ecosystem brings numerous benefits to a country, including job creation, innovation, economic growth, and increased foreign direct investment (FDI).

“Based on GlobalData’s Country Analytics, India received $58.8 billion in FDI equity inflow during the fiscal year 2021–22. The computer software and hardware sector attracted the largest share of FDI during this period, with $14.5 billion. The FDI inflow is expected to grow, partly fuelled by the influx of AI companies.

“According to the latest government statistics, India is home to 1,900 AI startups, and the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade has recognized 4,500 startups across 56 diversified sectors that are innovation-focused firms developing AI, the Internet of Things (IoT), and robotics.

“With the government’s “Make AI in India and Make AI work for India” vision, this number is anticipated to skyrocket. These forward-thinking government initiatives will steer the direction of the country’s development and shape its future growth trajectory.”