AI race has just begun; India must build foundational models, confident that Indian foundational models will solve many challenges for the world: Amitabh Kant
Asserting that in technology, first movers are never the winners, Mr Amitabh Kant, India’s G20 Sherpa, said that the Artificial Intelligence (AI) race has just begun and urged Indian businesses to build foundational models. Mr Kant was speaking at the session on “Making this India’s Moment: What Must India Do?” at the CII Annual Business Summit 2025 in New Delhi on 29 May. India’s G20 Sherpa believes that Indian models will provide solutions to many of the challenges faced by countries around the world.
“What we did in digital public infrastructure is that we used open source, open API, globally interoperable models, and those models will be the way forward for us. Therefore, India must build its foundational model. I believe India will provide these foundational models for many areas which have challenges for the world. How to improve learning outcomes, health outcomes and nutritional standards, etc. India will use its 22 languages and thousands of dialects to find solutions to many of the challenges of the world. Indian startups will do some pathbreaking work in this area,” Mr Kant said.
Talking about the ease of doing business, India’s G20 Sherpa said that the central government has put in the building blocks, and that it is time for states to bring reforms. He also urged the industry to invest in research and development to develop cutting-edge technologies to sustain India’s accelerated growth. He also said that Quality Control Orders (QCOs) must be used rationally to ensure Indian industry can grow. To make Indian Industry more competitive, he suggested that States give land to the industry on long-term lease and privatise DISCOMS to make them more efficient. He also underlined the need for an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism to ensure speedy justice, especially in commercial cases.
Mr Kant said that tourism is another great area for growth. “We need to roll out a massive Incredible India campaign to attract tourism in a big way. This is India’s soft power. It has a huge multiplier effect in terms of jobs and can create millions of jobs. States must drive the tourism sector as the driver of growth,” he said.
Mr Rajiv Memani, President Designate, CII (2024-25), and Chairman and CEO, EY India said that India has done a lot of work in manufacturing and underlined the need to boost the sector further. He also highlighted the need for second-generation reforms and advocated for alternate dispute resolution.
29 May 2025
New Delhi