Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlights India’s ambitious plans to become a global leader in AI, 6G telecoms, and nuclear energy, aiming to reshape the nation’s technological future with bold investments and policy initiatives.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi used India’s Independence Day address on Saturday to place technology and innovation at the centre of the country’s economic ambitions, saying the country must move from being a large market for global technology to becoming a source of it. He said the next phase of growth would be shaped by artificial intelligence, quantum computing, robotics, space and data centres, and argued that India should aim to lead in each of them.
Modi announced a plan to train one crore young people in AI skills over the next year, framing it as preparation for a labour market that will be reshaped by automation and digital tools. He said India had already shown its capacity in digital public infrastructure and UPI, and should now build on that record by becoming a global innovation hub rather than simply adopting foreign systems.
The prime minister also renewed his push for next-generation telecoms, calling for made-in-India 6G to reach every part of the country. His remarks build on the government’s earlier 6G roadmap: in March 2023, Modi unveiled India’s 6G vision document and launched a research and development test bed designed to speed work on standards, devices and network design. Later statements from the government said India aims to be part of the global 6G race by the end of the decade.
Energy security and cyber defence were also prominent in his address. Modi said AI systems, chips and data centres will require far more electricity, and pointed to nuclear power as a strategic part of the answer, with a target of 100 GW of nuclear capacity by 2047. He also warned that modern conflict can target infrastructure such as refineries, banks and data centres, and said work on Mission Sudarshan Chakra is advancing alongside a sharp rise in defence exports.
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