Artificial Intelligence Expected To Contribute Additional $957 Billion To India’s Economy By 2035: Govt

The government on Friday (3 February) told the Parliament that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is expected to contribute an additional $957 billion to India's economy by 2035.

In a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar said the government considers Artificial Intelligence (AI) to be a kinetic enabler for the growth of India's digital economy, investments, and jobs.

"The Government has published the National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence with the objective of developing an ecosystem for the research and adoption of Artificial Intelligence," the minister said.

Subsequently, with a vision to ‘Make AI in India and Make AI work for India’, the Electronics and IT Ministry has approved the implementation of ‘National Program on Artificial Intelligence’ for development of AI based solutions and ensure responsible and transformational use of AI for all, he said.

The minister further informed that the Department of Science & Technology is implementing the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS).

Under this mission, Technology Innovation Hubs (TIH) has been established on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, which aims to provide the state-of-the-art training and capacity building for the creation of next-generation scientists, engineers, technicians, and technocrats in the field of Artificial Intelligence, he said.

On generative AI technologies, the minister said that the government was congisant of the emergence of these technologies and their rapid proliferation in sectors like education, manufacturing, healthcare, finance, and others.

Generative AI refers to the capability of artificial intelligence-enabled machines to use existing text, audio files, or images to create new content.

The use of Generative AI is still in its early stages, and its impact is likely to grow as technology continues to evolve and improve, the minister said.

He said that there is no data available on generative AI employment.

"However, as per NASSCOM data, the overall AI employment in India is estimated at about 416,000 professionals. The growth rate for the sector is estimated at about 20-25 per cent. Further, AI is expected to contribute an additional USD 957 billion to India’s economy, by 2035," the minister said.

He further said that the technologies related to generative AI are still evolving currently.

On regulation of generative AI, the minister said that there is no specific regulation for the same.

"However, the development and deployment of AI is governed through laws and policies related to privacy, data protection, intellectual property, and cyber security," he added.