Bhavish Aggarwal: India’s path to global leadership lies in mastering technologies of the future

In the last decade, India’s gross domestic product (GDP) has nearly doubled to $3.5 trillion, showcasing our resilience as one of the world’s fastest-growing major economies. As we envision Viksit Bharat by 2047, increasing our economic growth from 8% to 12% could transform India into a $50 trillion economy. The global landscape is witnessing rapid technological advancements, particularly in artificial intelligence (AI) and new energy. Our peers, notably China, are investing heavily in ‘new productive forces’, transforming traditional industries and fostering emerging sectors.

To drive India’s growth and competitiveness, we must prioritize AI and new energy as foundational technologies that can revolutionize our entire economy.

In 1947, we won our political freedom. In 2047, we must achieve our technological freedom. We need to create our own playbook for technological advancement—one that addresses our unique challenges and leverages our strengths. It’s about using tech not just for economic growth, but for societal transformation.

Building India’s own AI stack

While India’s economy has digitized significantly, our compute penetration remains low. Despite our huge success in information technology (IT) services, they represent just 1% of the $30 trillion global technology industry. Our global competitors have rapidly accelerated investments in AI, pouring hundreds of billions into research, infrastructure and talent. India’s approach to AI must leverage our core strengths across data, compute and algorithms.

Read this | How India plans to make AI accessible for all

 

Data with Indian ethos

India generates 20% of the world’s data, yet 80% is stored offshore, processed into AI and imported back in dollars. This ‘data colonization’ is reminiscent of the East India Company’s practices, where India’s raw materials were extracted and processed products sold back at a premium. Today, our digital raw material—data—is similarly exploited. We must reverse this trend by leveraging our digital public infrastructure (DPI) to create privacy-preserving datasets. We can build on our DPI success (UPI, UIDAI, ONDC) to create the world’s largest open-source AI, grounded in Indian ethos.

Compute infrastructure

In terms of compute infrastructure, India currently has only 1GW of data centre capacity, while the global capacity is 50GW. By 2030, projections show the US at 70GW, China at 30GW and India at 5GW if we maintain our current trajectory. To achieve AI leadership, we need rapid AI adoption, data localization norms, incentives for global computing companies, and production-linked incentive (PLI) schemes for data centres. Deploying 50GW by 2030 will require $200 billion in capital—an ambitious but achievable goal.

India is the world’s largest hub for silicon development and design talent, yet we lack Indian-designed chips. We need industry-led chip design projects and government incentives through research-linked incentive schemes. Accelerating the deployment of cutting-edge process fabs of less than three nanometers in India is a geostrategic imperative.

R&D on algorithms

As AI research becomes increasingly closed and proprietary, India has a unique opportunity to become a global champion of open innovation in AI research and development (R&D). We can achieve this by attracting world-class talent and the best scientists to work in India, providing industrial-scale resources for research and offering government incentives for AI R&D. By creating a globally leading open innovation platform for AI, India can position itself at the forefront of AI advancement while ensuring that our values and perspectives shape the future of this transformative technology.

New energy supply chains

The new energy paradigm is shifting from mining and refining of fossil fuels to advanced material sciences, particularly for critical minerals like lithium. This transition is reshaping the global energy landscape, and India must position itself at the forefront of this revolution.

The new energy ecosystem rests on three pillars: renewable energy (RE) generation, battery storage and electric vehicles (EVs).

RE generation

India’s RE capacity has grown from 72GW in 2014 to over 175GW in 2023, with solar capacity rising from 3.8GW to more than 88GW. However, we still lag behind global leaders. In 2023, China deployed 215GW of solar energy capacity compared to India’s 8GW. We must intensify our focus on RE deployment to reach our target of 500GW by 2030.

Battery storage

For renewable energy to be truly effective, we must couple it with robust battery storage solutions. Currently, our battery storage production capacity is only 2GWh, compared to China’s 1,700GWh. To power our RE grid and achieve 100% EV adoption, we need to aim for 1,000GWh capacity. This significant increase in battery storage will not only support our RE goals but also drive down costs and improve energy accessibility across the country.

The EV sector

In the EV sector, India’s current auto penetration is less than 200 vehicles per 1,000 people, with 2 million EVs sold annually compared to China’s 30 million. By 2030, India should aim to become the world’s largest EV market, potentially producing 50 million EVs. This shift will create a cleaner environment, lower transport costs for consumers and reduce the economy’s overall logistics expenses.

Currently, 90% of the new energy ecosystem—from solar production to lithium cell production and midstream processing to EV manufacturing—is concentrated in China. By building our own technologies and supply chains, we can make our economy more energy-efficient and create tens of millions of future-ready jobs. This transition will secure our energy independence and position us as a key player in the global fight against climate change.

Also read | Amitabh Kant: A place on the global technology map

India’s path to global leadership lies in mastering these technologies of the future. Our journey isn’t about catching up; it’s about leapfrogging our competitors to become pioneers in AI and new energy paradigms. This is our moment to transform India into the world’s most technologically advanced economy, creating hundreds of millions of future-ready jobs. To realize this vision, we need a unified effort from all stakeholders in our society. Just as every Indian played a part in our struggle for independence, every citizen now has a role in building our technological future. 

We stand at a critical juncture. The next decade will determine whether India emerges as a true tech superpower or remains on the periphery. It’s time for bold action and big dreams. The future is ours to create, and the time to act is now.

Bhavish Aggarwal is co-founder and chief executive officer of Ola Cabs, and the founder of Ola Electric.