India’s technology landscape is poised for a strategic transformation as Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw urged the country’s IT industry to pivot from a traditional software‑services model to “AI as a Service”, leveraging India’s global trust, deep talent pool and growing semiconductor and electronics capabilities.
Speaking at an Industry Leader Townhall on The Role of Technology in Building Viksit Bharat 2047, organised by the Hyderabad Software Enterprises Association, the Minister said the next phase of India’s economic growth will be driven by artificial intelligence, semiconductors, electronics manufacturing and advanced infrastructure—all central to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for 2047. The event included a roundtable with industry leaders and participation from Union Minister for Coal and Mines G. Kishan Reddy.
Vaishnaw highlighted that each new AI model unlocks fresh capabilities and business opportunities, and called for a strategic industry‑academia collaboration to accelerate adoption. He pointed to a joint initiative by NASSCOM and the Government that has produced a comprehensive AI curriculum now shared with the Ministry of Education and AICTE to ensure students gain exposure to cutting‑edge AI developments.
On semiconductors, the Minister said a long‑standing national aspiration is now taking concrete form: 12 semiconductor manufacturing plants are at various stages of development, with three already producing chips for export to Japan, Europe and domestic markets. To strengthen the talent pipeline, advanced semiconductor design tools have been made available to 315 universities.
The electronics manufacturing sector is also on an upswing. Vaishnaw noted that mobile phones became India’s largest export category last year and projected the sector to grow from ₹13 lakh crore to ₹20 lakh crore in the near term. In Telangana, the Central Government has supported 104 electronics manufacturing companies, sanctioned four Electronics Manufacturing Clusters and established a Common Facility Centre.
Infrastructure and connectivity are central to the growth story. Vaishnaw said Hyderabad is set to become a major hub under the national development agenda, with three planned bullet train corridors and significant railway investments. He contrasted past allocations—about ₹880 crore annually for undivided Andhra Pradesh during the UPA era—with current funding of over ₹5,400 crore for Telangana alone, and noted the redevelopment of roughly 40 railway stations in the state under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme.
Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy urged that growth be inclusive and spread beyond Hyderabad to tier‑II cities such as Warangal and Karimnagar, so they too can become centres of investment and employment. Both ministers visited manufacturing facilities at Kondakal and Fab City Road, reviewing operations and technological readiness ahead of commissioning.
Vaishnaw framed India’s progress as built on a decade of digital foundations—UPI’s massive transaction volumes, indigenous 4G and 5G technologies, affordable data and robust digital public platforms—which together create fertile ground for AI, semiconductor design and electronics innovation.
As India accelerates its push into chip manufacturing, AI deployment and electronics exports, the Minister’s message was clear: the IT industry must evolve its business models, deepen collaboration with academia, and seize the moment to deliver product‑led, AI‑driven solutions that can be packaged and offered globally as AI as a Service.
