India AI Impact Summit 2026 to focus on ‘Democratizing AI, Bridging the AI Divide’

IndiaAI Mission, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) briefed the media in New Delhi today on the vision, thematic structure, and progress of the India AI Impact Summit 2026. The press conference was chaired by  S. Krishnan, Secretary, MeitY and was attended by  Abhishek Singh, Additional Secretary, MeitY, CEO, IndiaAI and DG, NIC;  Akhil Kumar, MD and CEO, Digital India Corporation;  Amitesh Kumar Sinha, Additional Secretary, MeitY and CEO, India Semiconductor Mission; Krishan Kumar Singh, Joint Secretary, MeitY; Sudeep Shrivastava, Joint Secretary, MeitY;  Nand Kumarum, President and CEO, NeGD; Dr. Sanjay Bahl, DG, CERT-In; Manoj Kumar Jain, Scientist G and Group Coordinator, MeitY; K Mohammed Y. Safirulla, Director, IndiaAI, and Ms. Shikha Dahiya, Joint Director, IndiaAI among other officials.

Addressing the press conference S. Krishnan, Secretary, MeitY, said “What we are seeking to do is ensure the democratization of AI and bridge the emerging AI divide. A key concern across the international community has been the risk of AI becoming concentrated in a limited number of geographies and controlled by a small set of companies. To address this, AI must be made widely available as a horizontal, enabling technology that supports the development of humanity as a whole. This means ensuring that countries across the world have access to all critical elements of AI infrastructure such as compute, models, and data. Broader access would, in turn, enable the development of AI solutions tailored to specific countries, societies, and communities. Such context-specific solutions can then be deployed across productive sectors of the economy, including healthcare, agriculture, governance, education, manufacturing, and others, ensuring that gains in productivity and efficiency are realized at a much wider scale.”

The Summit is anchored in three guiding Sutras: People, Planet, and Progress – which define how AI should serve humanity, safeguard the environment, and drive inclusive economic and social growth. These Sutras are operationalised through seven thematic Chakras, or Working Groups, which structure the Summit’s deliberations and outcomes.

The Human Capital Chakra focuses on equipping people with skills and literacy required for an AI-driven future, emphasising reskilling and inclusive workforce transitions. Inclusion for Social Empowerment addresses linguistic, cultural, and contextual representation in AI systems to ensure they are inclusive by design and locally relevant. The Safe and Trusted AI Chakra advances transparent, accountable, and technology-enabled governance frameworks that can be adopted across regions. Resilience, Innovation and Efficiency prioritises frugal, energy-efficient, and sustainable AI solutions suited for resource-constrained environments. The Science Chakra seeks to expand inclusive AI research ecosystems and global scientific collaboration, particularly in the Global South. Democratising AI Resources focuses on equitable access to datasets, compute, and foundational models, while AI for Economic Growth and Social Good aims to scale proven AI applications across sectors such as healthcare, education, and agriculture.

The Working Group themes have been shaped through months of extensive consultations, including public engagement via the MyGov platform, which received over 600 citizen responses, stakeholder consultations involving more than 500 organisations, and multiple national and international brainstorming sessions held in cities such as Oslo, Tokyo, New York, and Paris.

Krishnan also outlined how the Sutra–Chakra framework will guide the Summit’s agenda and outcomes, ensuring that discussions move beyond aspiration towards measurable, real-world impact.

As a strategic precursor to the India AI Impact Summit 2026, approximately 300 pre-summit events have been organized to bring in diverse perspectives and build momentum ahead of the Summit; out of which 57 pre-summits have been held across 25+ countries. Furthermore, a series of Regional AI Impact Conferences are being organized, ensuring India’s AI roadmap is inclusive and rooted in the aspirations of a Viksit Bharat.

The India AI Impact Summit 2026 is anchored by a set of flagship global initiatives designed to build sustained momentum and demonstrate AI’s real-world impact across People, Planet and Progress. These include three large-scale global challenges—YUVAi, AI by HER, and AI for All, which together have  attracted over 15,000 registrations from 135 countries and around 4,700 submissions, with strong Global South participation. Other flagship events include the India AI Tinkerpreneur challenge that will showcase top 50 projects from school students (Class 6 to 12); UDAAN, a global AI pitch fest connecting high-potential startups with investors and policymakers; six international compendiums on AI in Health, Energy, Gender, Agriculture, Education and Disabilities showcasing high-impact public-good use cases; the AI Impact Expo at Bharat Mandapam showcasing global, state, enterprise and startup innovations; and a Research Symposium featuring frontier AI research from Africa, Asia and Latin America. These collectively position the Summit as a global platform for inclusive, applied and impact-driven AI collaboration.