India AI Summit Draws $250 Bn Infra Commitments; 70 Nations Back Delhi Declaration, More Expected

India's AI Impact Summit has secured investment commitments of over USD 250 billion in infrastructure and already garnered support from 70 countries for the proposed Delhi Declaration, Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Friday, calling the event a "grand success." Vaishnaw said the summit saw participation from over 5 lakh visitors, reflecting strong domestic and global engagement with India's AI push.

He added that the number of countries signing the Delhi Declaration is expected to cross 80 by the time the summit concludes on Saturday. While the Minister did not provide details of the Summit, slated to be unveiled on Saturday, sources said the US is also on board.

Vaishnaw said the summit saw strong global backing, with 70 countries already signing on to the proposed Delhi Declaration. The number of signatories is expected to cross 80 by the time the event concludes on Saturday, he added.

"There is a huge consensus on the declaration, we just want to maximise the numbers, given the size of the Summit that has happened," he said.

The minister said full details of the Delhi Declaration would be shared transparently after the summit ends.

He also criticised the opposition, saying whatever little effort was made by the Congress to disrupt the summit was rejected by India's youth, asserting that the event had overwhelming public support.

The India AI Impact Summit brought together global policymakers, industry leaders and technology experts, positioning India as a key player in shaping international AI governance and infrastructure development.

"More than five lakh visitors participated in the exhibition, learnt a lot, and interacted with many experts from around the world. We had practically every major AI player in the world participating in large numbers. We had so many startups getting the opportunity to showcase their work. Overall the quality of discussion was phenomenal," he said.

Be it the ministerial dialog, the leaders plenary, the main inauguration function, or the Summit overall, the quality of participation and dialog was phenomenal, vaishnaw pointed out.

"...everybody felt happy that we have brought the discussion about responsible and ethical AI to the forefront," he said.

The investment pledged has crossed USD 250 billion for infra-related investments and about USD 20 billion for the VC/deep tech investments, which have been committed by investors, Vaishnaw said noting that the numbers are important, but what is important also is the world has confidence in India's role in the new AI age.

The last action summit had 60 signatories in the final declaration, the India AI Impact Summit has already surpassed the 70 milestone.

"We have already crossed 70 (nations). There are many ministers who are here, and they are discussing with us. So I think by the time we close the summit tomorrow, we have, as you know, extended it by one more day. We believe that it will cross 80...all the major countries have already signed.

“If you think that somebody has not signed, you need not speculate on that. All the important people who matter in AI, have all signed, we will be giving you the formal number tomorrow as the summit closes," he said.

The Minister said that the Summit also saw strong endorsement from participants on India's policy of working on all the five layers, and the sovereign bouquet of AI models, were lauded by captains of the global tech industry.

"They are really surprised at the quality of output with such few resources...with such frugal resources, our engineers and researchers have produced such good models, which is what gives huge, huge endorsement to our efforts," the Minister said.

On Congress' protest, the IT Minister said whatever little effort was made by the opposition party in attempting to disrupt the Summit was strongly rejected by India's youth.

"Thanks to the youth who endorsed the Summit, who took this so positively that whatever little effort that Congress made for trying to disrupt the summit was really...the youth very clearly said that this is their exhibition, this is the summit for the youth who want to make the best use of it. They don't believe in the negative politics that Congress was trying to play," he said.

In an apparent reference to the Galgotias University fiasco, the Minister said immediate action was taken against those who tried to demean the good work being done by India's startups and engineers in AI.

"We had some bad choices here, people coming into the exhibition, and we took immediate action against anybody who tried to demean the good work that is being done by our startups and by engineers, by our people who are working in the AI field.

“We are a very open-minded government, and believe in taking your feedback. We believe in working with you, and believe in the goal of Vikasit Bharat," he said.

Saturday will mark laying of foundation for the next semiconductor plant in Uttar Pradesh, the Minister said, informing that February 28 will see the start of commercial production from the Micron facility.

"That will be one of the largest facilities that Micron has...practically more than 10 cricket fields kind-of-facility, it is very large, and that is going to be inaugurated on February 28," he said, terming these are strong building blocks, the foundation being put in place for ‘Vikasit Bharat'.

He said that the government has taken an internal target of about 20 lakh persons to be trained on AI, as a part of India AI Mission 2.0 which is on the anvil.