80% New Startups Providing AI Solutions- Vaishnaw

Rejecting the view that India is falling behind in the AI race, Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting, and Electronics & Information Ashwini Vaishnaw said that country’s strength lies in applying the technology across industries, expanding data-centre capacity and utilising its pool of chip-design talent.

Speaking to Morgan Stanley’s Head of India Research and Chief India Equity Strategist, Ridham Desai, Vaishnaw said, “Our biggest strength is in the applications layer. The biggest strength of our IT industry is to go into any enterprise, understand the enterprise, understand the operating system of the enterprise and provide a solution based on that operating system.”

He added, “Almost 80% of the startups which are coming up now are basically providing AI-based solutions.”

The Union Minister noted how the country is now focusing on data center capabilities, while pointing at the success of electronics manufacturing sector. He said the same model is now being applied to semiconductors, with India already accounting for 20% of the global chip-design workforce. (updated on 18th August 2026)