Gautam Adani called for India to build its own artificial intelligence and energy infrastructure during a keynote address on Monday [1].
The proposal emphasizes national self-reliance in critical technology. By developing domestic capabilities, Adani said India can better serve its rising domestic market, including expanding cities, factories, and millions of small businesses [2].
Speaking at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Annual Business Summit 2026 in New Delhi, the Adani Group chairman said that India should not copy the development paths of other global powers [3]. "India's path will not be America's or China's path because we are not building for an abstract future; we are building for a living, rising, demanding India," Adani said [3].
Adani proposed a $100 billion investment in sovereign AI and energy infrastructure to support this growth [4]. He said that the country should view AI as more than just software, describing it instead as strategic infrastructure that encompasses data centers, chips, networks, compute, talent, and energy [2].
This infrastructure is intended to support a wide array of domestic needs, ranging from households to electric vehicles [2]. Adani said that the deployment of these technologies must be inclusive to ensure broad economic benefit. "AI must empower workers and small businesses, not just corporates," Adani said [3].
The chairman said that the integration of energy and digital tools is essential for the country's economic outlook [1]. He said that the scale of India's domestic demand requires a specialized approach to infrastructure that differs from the models used by the U.S. or China [2].
“"India's path will not be America's or China's path because we are not building for an abstract future"”
Adani's call for a $100 billion investment in sovereign AI and energy reflects a strategic push toward 'technological sovereignty.' By decoupling India's digital evolution from the U.S. and Chinese models, the initiative seeks to align high-tech infrastructure directly with India's specific demographic pressures and industrial scale, potentially reducing reliance on foreign hardware and software ecosystems.
