Editorial Summary
Writing in the Indian Express (May 6, 2026), former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan and economist Rohit Lamba issue a strategic warning: India is at risk of becoming a “tenant” of foreign AI systems: using and paying for AI infrastructure built by OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, and Meta, without owning the underlying capabilities, controlling the data governance, or sharing in the economic value created.
The piece argues that India possesses a unique and unreplicable foundation for building sovereign AI: its Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), the India Stack (Aadhaar, UPI, ONDC, DigiLocker, ABHA). No other country has a comparable combination of scale (1.4 billion biometric IDs), transactional depth (18–21 billion UPI transactions monthly), and public-good design principles. The authors argue this DPI can serve as the data and governance backbone for developing India-specific AI applications at scale.
But DPI alone is not enough, the editorial calls for three parallel investments: sovereign compute infrastructure, open multilingual datasets, and open-source large language models for Indian languages.
Key Arguments
The “Tenant” Risk
| Scenario | Implication |
|---|---|
| India uses OpenAI/Google AI with no sovereign stack | Strategic dependency; data sovereignty risk; no domestic economic value capture |
| India’s data trains foreign AI models | Indian users’ data enriches foreign companies; India pays for the output |
| Critical sectors (healthcare, agriculture, governance) run on foreign AI | Geopolitical vulnerability; terms can change; no recourse |
| India lacks compute infrastructure | Cannot train or fine-tune large AI models independently |
The “tenant” metaphor is precise: a tenant pays rent, cannot modify the property, can be evicted, and builds no equity, the opposite of strategic technology ownership.
India’s Unique Advantage: The DPI Foundation
| Component | Scale | AI Relevance |
|---|---|---|
| Aadhaar | 1.4 billion biometric IDs | Identity verification; consent-based data access |
| UPI | 18–21 billion transactions/month | Financial behaviour patterns; economic activity data |
| ONDC | Open Network for Digital Commerce | Commercial transaction data; supply chain |
| DigiLocker | 250+ crore documents | Educational, government records |
| ABHA | Ayushman Bharat Health Account | Healthcare records; disease pattern data |
| CoWIN | Vaccination data | Demographic + health |
This DPI generates structured, consent-based, high-quality data across demographics, sectors, and regions, rare at this scale globally.
What India Must Build
| Component | What Is Needed | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Sovereign compute | GPU clusters for AI training (India AI Mission: 10,000 GPUs initially) | Without compute, India cannot train or fine-tune large models |
| Open multilingual datasets | Curated training data in 22 Scheduled Languages | India’s AI must work for Tamil farmers, not just English speakers |
| Open-source LLMs | Indian-language foundation models (Sarvam AI model is a start) | Prevents monopoly; enables ecosystem |
| Public-private R&D | IIT + IISc + private sector (Sarvam, Krutrim) collaboration | Distributes investment; builds talent retention |
| Data governance framework | Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 implementation | Ensures data sovereignty while enabling AI development |
IndiaAI Mission: Current Status
| Parameter | Detail |
|---|---|
| Budget | ₹10,372 crore |
| Compute target | 10,000 GPUs (Phase 1); expanding to 100,000+ (Phase 2) |
| Key component | AI Compute Infrastructure + IndiaAI Datasets Platform + FutureSkills Prime |
| Private players | Sarvam AI (Indian LLM); Krutrim (Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal’s AI) |
| Space AI example | Pixxel + Sarvam AI “Pathfinder”, orbital AI satellite (Q4 2026) |
UPSC Relevance
| Paper | Angle |
|---|---|
| GS3, Science & Technology | AI governance, sovereign AI, LLMs, compute infrastructure |
| GS3, Economy | Digital economy, technology exports, intellectual property |
| GS2, Governance | IndiaAI Mission, DPI governance, data sovereignty, DPDP Act 2023 |
Mains Keywords: AI sovereignty, Digital Public Infrastructure, India Stack, Raghuram Rajan, Rohit Lamba, IndiaAI Mission, Sarvam AI, Krutrim, DPDP Act 2023, UPI, Aadhaar, open-source LLM, sovereign compute, GPU infrastructure, multilingual AI, technology tenant
Prelims Facts Corner
| Item | Fact |
|---|---|
| Article authors | Raghuram Rajan (former RBI Governor, 2013–16) + Rohit Lamba (Princeton economist) |
| Core argument | India must produce AI, not become a “tenant” of foreign AI platforms |
| DPI foundation | Aadhaar (1.4B IDs), UPI (18–21B transactions/month), ONDC, DigiLocker, ABHA |
| IndiaAI Mission | ₹10,372 crore; 10,000 GPUs (Phase 1) |
| Sarvam AI | Indian open-source LLM company; Pathfinder satellite (with Pixxel) |
| Krutrim | AI startup by Bhavish Aggarwal (Ola founder) |
| DPDP Act 2023 | Digital Personal Data Protection Act, data governance framework |
| Raghuram Rajan’s tenure | RBI Governor: September 2013 – September 2016 |
Cite this page: How Can India Produce AI, Instead of Becoming Its Tenant? — Ujiyari.com | Free UPSC & State PCS Current Affairs
