India's Artificial Intelligence (AI) strategy is based on the vision of democratizing technology. It aims to address India-centric challenges and create opportunities & jobs in AI.

India’s growing AI talent base

AI-specific jobs span multiple sectors such as IT, manufacturing, agriculture, healthcare, governance, etc. As AI adoption deepens across these sectors, the demand for skilled professionals is also rising.

If government provided data are to be believed, the Government of India recognises has aligned its AI initiatives in this direction. This is also reflected in global assessments about India’s AI workforce.

As per the Stanford AI Index Report 2025, India:

• Leads the world in AI talent acquisition, with an annual hiring rate of about 33%
• Ranks among the top countries globally in AI skill penetration
• Has seen AI talent concentration grow more than threefold since 2016

India ranks among the top three countries in Stanford University’s Global AI Vibrancy Tool, reflecting its growing strength in AI talent and infrastructure.

According to industry estimates, India’s AI talent base is expected to more than double by 2027, growing at a compound annual growth rate of around 15%.

India’s growing AI talent base is also reflected in global developer participation. As per global data on GitHub AI projects by geographic distribution, India was the second-largest contributor worldwide in 2024, accounting for 19.9% of all AI projects. 

This underscores the depth of India’s AI developer ecosystem. It also validates the Government’s focus on large-scale AI skilling, research and innovation under the IndiaAI Mission.

Various initiatives of Government of India supporting the development of AI talent pipeline are as follows: 

1. IndiaAI FutureSkills

It is one of the pillars of IndiaAI mission where focus is on developing AI talent and research pipeline

• Government is supporting 500 PhD scholars, 5,000 postgraduates and 8,000 undergraduates for AI related work

• 27 IndiaAl Data and AI Labs are established in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities through NIELIT to conduct coursework in AI, data curation, annotation, cleaning and applied data science
• 174 lTIs and Polytechnics across 27 States/UTs have been approved to set up additional IndiaAl Data and AI Labs

2. FutureSkills PRIME

• Government in collaboration with NASSCOM is equipping learners with cutting-edge skills essential in today's rapidly evolving digital landscape including AI, Big data and Cloud computing
• Courses are aligned with National Occupational Standards (NOS) and National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF)
• Over 500+ courses & 2000+ digital fluency pathways are offered on the platform. So far, 16.29 lakh+ candidates have enrolled/trained in various courses.

3. iGOT Karmayogi Bharat Platform:

• It is launched under Mission Karmayogi as a digital learning platform for capacity building of government officials 
• Online courses and certifications are offered in emerging areas such as AI, data analytics and digital transformation

4. National Career Service (NCS):

• It is a one-stop digital platform operated by the Ministry of Labour and Employment which provides job opportunities/matching service for public and private sectors. 
• Career counselling, information on job fairs, skill development programmes and vocational guidance are also offered on the platform. 

In addition, a free national-level foundational course “YUVA AI for ALL” has been launched to create mass awareness and basic AI literacy.

As per NASSCOM’s report, India possesses the world’s largest digitally skilled talent pool and has the capacity to reskill and develop 8-10 million professionals in AI-related services by 2030. 

The Government is adopting a whole-of-government approach to AI skilling and workforce development. Through the IndiaAI Mission and related platforms, it is working with Ministries, State Governments, educational institutions and industry to build AI skills.

This information was submitted by Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw in Rajya Sabha on 19.12.2025.