The Impressive TimesNEW DELHI, 25 MARCH 2025: During Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha, AAP MP Raghav Chadha raised concerns over India’s position in the global AI race, warning that while the US and China surge ahead, India risks being left behind. He highlighted the stark gap in AI investments and patents, despite India contributing 15% of the global AI workforce. The MP emphasised that ‘Vishwaguru’ in the future would be the country with strong indigenous AI, and along with Make In India, we must also strive for ‘Make AI in India.’
AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha highlighted how global leaders have invested heavily in AI. “AI is essential for the up and coming India. The US has ChatGPT, Gemini, Anthropic, Grok. China has DeepSeek, which is the most powerful and economical of them all. But the question is where is India in this world of AI. Will India keep lagging in this and won’t be able to create an AI model of its own?”
He pointed out a stark contrast in patents filed. “From 2010 to 2022, the US filed 60% of the world’s AI patents, China 20%, and India just 0.5%.” Despite this, he emphasised India’s potential, saying, “India has the maximum calibre, the most hardworking talent. We contribute 15% of the global AI workforce with 4.5 lakh professionals working abroad.”
The AAP MP emphasised that we have the third-highest AI skill penetration in the world. “We have the skill, talent, hard working people, a massive digital economy and 90 crore internet users. Yet, we have become mere consumers of AI and not producers,” he highlighted.
He also pointed to a recent statement by OpenAI’s founder, who said he is “totally hopeless about India’s AI future.” Raghav Chadha emphasised that we must respond and become producers of AI, for which we have to take certain measures.
The AAP MP laid out a roadmap to make India an AI powerhouse. “India must develop indigenous AI chips and high-performance computing infrastructure to support domestic innovation. Along with this, we will need a dedicated AI infrastructure fund. Indian institutions and AI startups need generous research grants, and we must stop the brain drain by offering competitive opportunities, infrastructure, and incentives for top AI talent to stay and work in India.”
He further stated that local AI startups must also be provided access to large scale existing data for training their models, which Meta and Google has but India companies don’t. He emphasised that we must also increase investment flows, saying, “The US has committed over $500 billion to AI, China over $137 billion, while India’s mission stands at a modest $1 billion. The US spends 3.5% of its GDP in Research and Development (R&D), China 2.5%, whereas India spends an abysmal 0.7%.”
Raghav Chadha concluded by saying that the ‘Vishwaguru’ in the future would be the country with strong indigenous AI. “Along with Make In India, we must also strive for ‘Make AI in India,” he asserted.
He warned that AI is not just about technology—it’s about economic power, national security, and sovereignty. “We cannot depend on foreign AI models. India must build its own.”
Raghav Chadha’s Suggestions to Make India an AI Powerhouse:
• Develop indigenous AI chips and high-performance computing infrastructure to support domestic innovation.
• Incentivise chip manufacturing and set up dedicated AI computing systems across India.
• Create sovereign AI models to ensure data protection, national security, and economic independence.
• Provide generous research grants to Indian institutions and AI startups.
• Stop the brain drain by offering competitive opportunities, infrastructure, and incentives to top AI talent to stay and work in India.
“140 crore Indians are asking—will we remain AI consumers or become AI producers? The time for policy papers is over. The time for action is now,” said the AAP MP.
He urged the government to announce a clear, time-bound National AI Strategy with robust funding, institutional collaboration, and infrastructure development. “India has the talent, the drive, and the potential. What we need now is vision and investment. The world is not waiting—neither should we.”
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