India to become the largest AI developer community in the world in 5 years: Amitabh Kant

India will overtake the US in becoming the largest AI developer community in the world in the next five years, said Amitabh Kant, G20 Sherpa, Government of India.

“We (India) are such skilled manpower. That's why you have seen the rise of global capabilities centres in India today. There are about 2,000 of them. They are digital twins for their headquarters, simply because of the skilled manpower,” Kant said while speaking at TechSparks 2024.

India has already demonstrated its great ability and we will add a number of AI developers in the years to come, Kant said, in his response to a question on whether India is late adopter of emerging technologies.

Kant said the second movers have an advantage when it comes to disruptive technologies. “When there is advancement from one country, you tend to benefit from tech development, which is happening every second, every minute.”

“My view is that what we should prepare is talent. The talent will lead to investment and the investment will lead to growth. This is what we have seen in semiconductors,” Kant said.

Underlining the need for reorienting engineering courses across  educational institutions, Kant said, “We must embed AI, machine learning, quantum computing, these must become the foundational courses right now.”    

A tectonic shift is taking place, and India must embrace emerging tech. “That's why the government has broadened its focus areas. We have a Quantum Computing Mission, a semiconductor mission with the allocation of Rs 76,000 crore. We have a Green Hydrogen mission. The government has pushed into the newer areas of growth, and we will make breakthroughs in several of these areas.”

The Union Cabinet approved the National Quantum Mission (NQM) in 2023 at a total cost of Rs 6,003 crore from 2023-24 to 2030-31. The mission aims to seed, nurture and scale up scientific and industrial R&D and create an innovative ecosystem in Quantum Technology (QT).

India's Semiconductor Mission, launched in 2021, aims to establish a robust semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem in the country. The National Green Hydrogen Mission, approved by the government last year, has an outlay of Rs 19,744 crore