- India hosts first-ever Global South AI summit, demonstrating leadership in AI for inclusive development.
- Eight foundational model projects launched for indigenous AI capabilities.
- 30 AI & Data Labs operational; 570 planned nationwide.
- IndiaAI Fellowship supports 13,500 scholars from diverse disciplines.
- Summit principles: People, Planet, Progress; actionable through seven thematic Chakras.
- Global participation from leaders, innovators, policymakers, and industry pioneers expected.
Source: PIB
The Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India, unveiled the official logo and key flagship initiatives for the India-AI Impact Summit 2026. The announcement was made in the presence of Union Minister Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of State Shri S. Krishnan, Additional Secretary Shri Abhishek Singh, Principal Scientific Advisor Prof. Ajay Sood, COO of IndiaAI, Ms. Kavita Bhatia, and global AI expert Prof. Stuart Russell from UC Berkeley.
The India-AI Impact Summit 2026, being hosted for the first time by a Global South nation, will take place on 19-20 February 2026 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi. The summit aims to demonstrate AI’s potential in advancing inclusive development, sustainability, and equitable progress.
Official Logo and Its Significance
The logo is inspired by the Ashoka Chakra, symbolizing ethical governance, justice, and constitutional values. Radiating from the Chakra are neural network flares, representing AI’s transformative impact across languages, industries, and geographies, promoting inclusive growth and technological empowerment.
Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw’s Remarks
Shri Vaishnaw highlighted India’s rapid progress in AI:
- Initial goal: 10,000 GPUs for students and researchers.
- Current status: 38,000 GPUs deployed nationwide.
He emphasized the AI Data Labs, designed for inclusive growth, with 570 labs planned across India, ensuring equal access to AI resources in alignment with PM Shri Narendra Modi’s vision.
Key Flagship Initiatives
| Initiative | Description |
|---|---|
| UDAAN – Global AI Pitch Fest | Showcases AI startups globally and high-potential ventures from India’s Tier 2 & 3 cities, with a focus on women and differently-abled leaders. |
| YuvaAI Innovation Challenge | Encourages youth to develop AI-driven solutions addressing real-world public challenges. |
| AI by HER | Promotes women-led AI innovations across sectors. |
| Global Innovation Challenge for All | Inclusive platform fostering AI solutions for global and domestic challenges. |
| Research Symposium | Interdisciplinary forum for researchers from India, the Global South, and internationally to showcase cutting-edge AI work and forge collaborations. |
| AI Expo | Features 300+ exhibitors from 30+ countries with 10+ thematic pavilions focused on responsible AI. |
Launch of Eight Indigenous Foundational Model Projects
Under the IndiaAI Foundation Models pillar, eight pioneering projects were selected from 506 proposals to build indigenous AI models in domains such as multilingual processing, healthcare, science, industry, governance, and agriculture.
| Project | Focus Area | Key Details |
|---|---|---|
| Avatar AI | AI Avatars | Up to 70B parameters, optimized for Indian languages and domains like agriculture, healthcare, governance. |
| IIT Bombay Consortium – Bharat Gen | Multilingual & Multimodal Models | 2B–1T parameters, open-source, supports agriculture, finance, legal, health, education. |
| Fractal Analytics Ltd. | Large Reasoning Model | 70B parameters for structured reasoning, STEM, and medical problem-solving. |
| Tech Mahindra Maker’s Lab | Indic Language Models | 8B parameter model for Hindi dialects + agentic AI platform “Orion” for government applications. |
| Zenteiq – BrahmAI | Science-driven Multimodal Model | 8B–80B parameters, advances engineering intelligence, scientific computing, industrial innovation. |
| GenLoop | Small Language Models | 2B parameters – Yukti (Base), Varta (Instruction), Kavach (Guard) for all 22 scheduled Indian languages. |
| Intellihealth | Neurological AI | 20B parameter model for EEG signal analysis, early neurological disorder screening, brain-computer interface research. |
| Shodh AI | Material Discovery | 7B parameter model to accelerate AI-integrated experimental workflows in material sciences. |
AI & Data Labs and Skill Development
- 30 AI & Data Labs launched in the first phase across Tier 2 & 3 cities in partnership with NIELIT and Intel.
- Labs offer foundational courses in data annotation and curation, enabling learners to participate in the AI economy.
- IndiaAI Fellowship Program expanded to 13,500 scholars (8,000 undergraduates, 5,000 postgraduates, 500 PhD researchers) across diverse disciplines.
- Fellowship portal: fellowship.indiaai.gov.in
Summit Principles and Focus Areas
Three Sutras (Guiding Principles):
| Sutra | Focus |
|---|---|
| People | AI serves humanity, preserves dignity, ensures inclusivity, multilingual systems, safe AI. |
| Planet | AI development must be resource-efficient, support climate resilience, environmental protection, scientific discovery. |
| Progress | Equitable AI benefits, democratize access to datasets, compute, models, and apply AI in healthcare, education, governance, agriculture. |
Seven Chakras (Action Areas):
AI for Economic Development & Social Good – AI applications in public sectors, cross-border collaboration.
- Human Capital – Workforce transformation, skilling, literacy.
- Inclusion – Reflect languages, cultures, accessibility, gender/data bias prevention.
- Safe & Trusted AI – Transparency, auditing, governance mechanisms.
- Resilience, Innovation, Efficiency – Resource-efficient AI, reduced disparities.
- Science – Accelerate research, strengthen Global South collaborations, interdisciplinary studies.
- Democratizing AI Resources – Equitable access to data, compute, models, infrastructure.
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