'India has got $200 billion infra interest, $17 billion VC funding commitments': Ashwini Vaishnaw at AI Summit 2026
"I wanted to share with you, at this AI Impact Summit, we have got commitments for VC funding of the order of $17 billion, says Vaishnaw at AI Summit 2026
- Feb 17, 2026,
- Updated Feb 17, 2026 6:09 PM IST
IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday announced that India has secured commitments of up to $200 billion in infrastructure funding and about $17 billion in venture capital funding at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi, calling it a reflection of strong global interest in the country's AI ecosystem.
Speaking at the Tata Bharat YUVAi Hackathon during the summit, Vaishnaw said, "Today, I have come to feel the energy that you have with you. And the way you are using technology to create new solutions, that's phenomenal."
Also read: 'Writing code will not be the goal': Nandan Nilekani on how AI will transform talent and enterprises
He said the event demonstrated that artificial intelligence is not limited to engineers or large corporations. "What this event proves is that AI can be used by everyone for solving your day-to-day problems, for creating solutions that you need and you understand."
Highlighting the scale of investment interest, Vaishnaw said, "I wanted to share with you, in this AI Impact Summit, we have got commitments for VC funding of the order of $17 billion and infra funding upto $200 billion. That is the level of interest the world has. That is what Prime Minister Modi has created the framework for our country, where the entire world is coming to India. And this is the world's largest AI Summit. So good to be part of it."
The Tata Bharat YUVAi Hackathon, organised by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) as part of the summit, is aimed at empowering around 2,000 non-engineering undergraduates — many without prior coding experience — to use voice-first, multilingual AI tools to build solutions for sectors such as healthcare, education, agriculture, and civic services.
K Krithivasan, CEO and Managing Director of TCS, said the initiative is designed to democratise AI learning. "We want to make AI learning accessible to every student, not only for engineers. We believe AI empowers all, not just the engineers, and that's the idea of this hackathon. We intend to scale this program to reach 1 million students over the next few months," he said.
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IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday announced that India has secured commitments of up to $200 billion in infrastructure funding and about $17 billion in venture capital funding at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi, calling it a reflection of strong global interest in the country's AI ecosystem.
Speaking at the Tata Bharat YUVAi Hackathon during the summit, Vaishnaw said, "Today, I have come to feel the energy that you have with you. And the way you are using technology to create new solutions, that's phenomenal."
Also read: 'Writing code will not be the goal': Nandan Nilekani on how AI will transform talent and enterprises
He said the event demonstrated that artificial intelligence is not limited to engineers or large corporations. "What this event proves is that AI can be used by everyone for solving your day-to-day problems, for creating solutions that you need and you understand."
Highlighting the scale of investment interest, Vaishnaw said, "I wanted to share with you, in this AI Impact Summit, we have got commitments for VC funding of the order of $17 billion and infra funding upto $200 billion. That is the level of interest the world has. That is what Prime Minister Modi has created the framework for our country, where the entire world is coming to India. And this is the world's largest AI Summit. So good to be part of it."
The Tata Bharat YUVAi Hackathon, organised by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) as part of the summit, is aimed at empowering around 2,000 non-engineering undergraduates — many without prior coding experience — to use voice-first, multilingual AI tools to build solutions for sectors such as healthcare, education, agriculture, and civic services.
K Krithivasan, CEO and Managing Director of TCS, said the initiative is designed to democratise AI learning. "We want to make AI learning accessible to every student, not only for engineers. We believe AI empowers all, not just the engineers, and that's the idea of this hackathon. We intend to scale this program to reach 1 million students over the next few months," he said.
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