The Indian government announced on Sunday that the substantial global interest in the upcoming India AI Impact Summit 2026 highlights the nation’s rising role as a center for responsible innovation in artificial intelligence. The summit is set to take place in New Delhi from February 16 to 20, with a focus on the themes of People, Planet, and Progress.
As part of the summit, the Ministry of Electronics & IT revealed the finalists for three key Global Impact Challenges: AI for ALL, AI by HER, and YUVAi. These competitions, designed to foster innovative and socially impactful AI solutions, attracted over 4,650 applications from more than 60 countries, indicating significant international engagement.
Following a rigorous evaluation process conducted by domain experts and industry leaders, the top 70 teams have been selected to showcase their solutions during the Grand Finale and Awards Felicitation Ceremony on February 16 and 17 at Bharat Mandapam and Sushma Swaraj Bhawan.
The AI for ALL challenge garnered over 1,350 applications, focusing on scalable AI solutions in sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, climate resilience, governance, education, and financial inclusion. Among the top 20 finalists are real-world applications including AI-driven infection screening tools, soil intelligence systems, climate risk analytics platforms, and digital health diagnostics. The Ministry emphasized that these innovations could facilitate equitable growth and enhance public service delivery, particularly in the Global South.
The AI by HER Global Impact Challenge received more than 800 applications, aiming to promote women-led AI innovation. The initiative highlights the participation of women entrepreneurs developing AI solutions across various domains, including healthcare and sustainability. Notable projects among the top 30 finalists include AI-powered cancer screening tools and multilingual clinical decision support systems. The government views this initiative as a commitment to inclusive digital growth and supporting women innovators at the forefront of the global AI landscape.
The summit will also mark the launch of India’s AI Governance Guidelines, anchored in a 7-Sutra framework. These guidelines aim to ensure that AI acts as an enabler for inclusive development while addressing associated risks through evidence-based measures. The seven guiding principles include Trust is the Foundation, People First, Innovation over Restraint, Fairness & Equity, Accountability, Understandable by Design, and Safety, Resilience & Sustainability.
With these initiatives, India aims to realize its vision of “AI for All,” aligning AI development with the national aspiration of Viksit Bharat 2047. By integrating sovereign capabilities with open innovation—leveraging public digital infrastructure and affordable computing—the country seeks to enhance productivity and social empowerment. In alignment with its national goals, IndiaAI has onboarded over 38,000 GPUs through a subsidized national compute facility, and the AIKosh platform now hosts over 9,500 datasets and 273 sectoral models.
The National Supercomputing Mission has operationalized systems exceeding 40 petaflops, including AIRAWAT and PARAM Siddhi-AI, which contribute to indigenous AI development. Initiatives such as IndiaAI and FutureSkills are fostering education and training, supporting 500 PhDs, 5,000 postgraduates, and 8,000 undergraduates to strengthen the AI workforce. Notably, nearly 90 percent of startups in India are embedding AI into their operations, further integrating it into the innovation ecosystem.
The AI Governance framework implements a principle-based, techno-legal strategy and introduces institutions such as the AI Governance Group and the AI Safety Institute. These measures aim to foster innovation while ensuring safeguards, positioning India as a leader not just in AI adoption but in responsible and inclusive governance. As the nation prepares for the summit, it emphasizes its commitment to being a global leader in the evolving AI landscape.
OpenAI, DeepMind, and IBM are among the technology leaders keenly observing India’s advancements as it solidifies its role in shaping the future of artificial intelligence.
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