Artificial Intelligence is changing the lives of ordinary people by improving outcomes in areas such as agriculture and healthcare, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, Railways, and Information and Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Thursday, citing examples of higher farm yields and improved TB detection through AI-enabled solutions.
“AI is changing the lives of ordinary people. In Baramati, sugarcane yields rose by 40 per cent with 30 per cent less water and fertiliser, for farmers who have never used a computer simply through voice on a phone. In healthcare, TB detection has increased by 35 per cent. Examples like these can change lives across the Global South and the world,” Vaishnaw said.
The Minister was speaking at the launch of the World Bank Group’s ‘World Development Report 2026: The Promise of Artificial Intelligence’ at The Oberoi, New Delhi. He delivered the keynote address and formally presented the report, underlining India’s approach of democratising technology so that the benefits of AI reach citizens, enterprises and institutions across the country.
The launch was organised by the IndiaAI Mission, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India, in collaboration with the World Bank Group. The event brought together senior policymakers, global development experts, technology leaders and practitioners to discuss how India can maximise and sustain the development gains from AI while ensuring its safe and responsible use, said a press release by the Ministry of Electronics & IT.
The programme also featured a State AI Showcase, where States and innovators presented AI-enabled solutions being deployed across the country.
AI Can Expand Access to Expertise, Improve Services
The World Development Report 2026 examines the opportunities and challenges AI presents for developing economies and sets out a framework for countries to harness the technology for development through adoption, adaptation and advancement.
The Report notes that AI can widen access to expertise, raise productivity and improve the delivery of services in developing economies. AI-enabled tools are already being used in areas such as medical screening, agricultural decision-making and education, allowing scarce expertise to reach larger sections of the population.
At the same time, the Report emphasises that the benefits of AI depend on strong foundations, including reliable electricity and connectivity, computing infrastructure, quality data, skills, education systems and capable institutions.
Vaishnaw also highlighted the use of AI and digital technologies in agriculture. The Baramati initiative draws on satellite, Internet of Things (IoT) and weather data to provide farmers with actionable inputs, while also reducing labour costs. In Gujarat, AgriStack is being used by around five lakh farmers, while AI-based animal-health solutions through Sarlaben are benefiting around three crore cattle and their farmers, he said.
India Building a Broad-Based AI Ecosystem
India has emerged as a significant ecosystem for the development and deployment of AI, with applications spanning healthcare, agriculture, education, governance, financial services and other areas of public and economic importance.
Through the IndiaAI Mission, the Government is building an integrated AI ecosystem across seven pillars — IndiaAI Compute Capacity; IndiaAI Innovation Centre for indigenous foundation models; IndiaAI Datasets Platform (AIKosh); IndiaAI Application Development Initiative; IndiaAI FutureSkills; IndiaAI Startup Financing; and Safe & Trusted AI.
The Mission seeks to strengthen India’s capabilities across the AI value chain while ensuring that AI development remains inclusive, responsible and suited to the country’s scale, diversity and multilingual context.
The Government’s approach focuses on democratising access to compute, data and models, addressing India-specific challenges and creating new economic and employment opportunities.
Under the Safe & Trusted AI pillar, the Government is supporting indigenous tools and frameworks for responsible AI, including AI bias mitigation, algorithm auditing, explainable AI, privacy-preserving AI and deepfake detection. Institutional mechanisms are also being developed to strengthen AI governance and safety.
From AI Pilots to Scalable Development Solutions
The India launch provided a platform for policymakers and practitioners to examine how successful AI pilots can be identified, evaluated and scaled to deliver measurable development outcomes, while addressing the risks associated with the technology.
The event commenced with welcome remarks by Sudeep Srivastava, Chief Operating Officer, IndiaAI Mission and Joint Secretary, MeitY, and Dr Somik Lall, Director of Strategy, Development Economics, World Bank Group.
“One of the key messages of the World Development Report is not about creating artificial intelligence but deploying it. India has a unique opportunity to bring together institutions, markets and AI to transform millions of lives,” Lall said.
Delivering the keynote lecture on “From AI Pilots to Scale: The Promise of AI in India”, Dr Michael Kremer, Chief Economist and Senior Vice President, World Bank Group, said India’s progress in AI holds lessons for the wider developing world.
“India’s huge strides in AI is not just addressing its own problems but broader development challenges for the world,” he said.
Citing examples of weather advisories for farmers and EdTech solutions in Andhra Pradesh, Kremer said scaling AI solutions requires a “full stack approach” that combines software with the human and institutional elements needed for effective implementation.
He cited India’s AI-based monsoon forecasting as an example with wider relevance. The Government of India, through its meteorological agencies and the Ministry of Agriculture, tested and combined multiple AI models, including open-access models, and delivered forecasts to millions of farmers through text, voice and AI-powered advisories.
The model predicted the unusual 2025 monsoon, and Ethiopia is now following India’s lead, he said. The example, Kremer noted, demonstrates the role governments can play where commercial incentives are limited but the potential social benefits are significant.
This was followed by a presentation of the key findings of the Report by Dr Gaurav Nayyar, Director, World Development Report 2026.
“India is already approaching the path of AI for development by adapting tools to local contexts with the government playing the role of an enabler, user and regulator of this new technology. AI can solve for developing countries like India in decades, what could not have been done in a century,” Nayyar said.
Report Calls for Optimistic, Strategic and Pragmatic Approach
The presentation outlined the Report’s core message for developing countries: be optimistic, strategic and pragmatic.
Countries should adopt and adapt AI and then advance, focusing on tailoring AI tools to local contexts rather than spending billions of dollars building advanced systems from scratch. The Report also calls for cost-conscious choices by countries in their roles as enablers, users and regulators of AI.
It notes that the risk of job disruption is less imminent in developing countries, while the countries with the most to gain from AI may also be among the least prepared. Only one of the world’s 25 low-income countries has published a national AI strategy, according to the Report.
Experts Call for Evidence-Based Scaling of AI
The panel discussion emphasised the need to move beyond isolated pilots towards evidence-based scale-up, strengthen local capabilities, improve access to data and compute, establish appropriate institutional frameworks and ensure that AI solutions remain relevant to India’s diverse social and economic contexts.
States Showcase AI Solutions for Development Challenges
The panel discussion was followed by the State AI Showcase, “AI Innovations from Across India”, offering a pan-India view of how States are deploying AI applications to address local and development challenges.
The showcase featured Navachetana, an AI-enabled early-screening initiative for children aged 0 to 6 years to detect developmental delays, presented by M Venugopal Reddy, Director, Women Development & Child Welfare Department, Andhra Pradesh.
Maharashtra presented MahaVISTAAR AI, a connected platform providing personalised advisories, digital services and farmer engagement, through Fahim Shaikh of the PoCRA project.
Meghalaya showcased EdskGrid, a GeoAI governance intelligence solution for education, presented by Richa Kulkarni, State Project Director, Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan and Director, School Education & Literacy.
The showcase also featured Vyuhaa-Cerviai, a point-of-care cervical cancer screening solution presented by Dhritiman Mallick, Co-Founder and CEO, Vyuhaa Med Data and a winner of the NCG Catch Grant.
The presentations highlighted diverse approaches and emerging models with potential for adaptation across geographies and sectors.
Building Trust and Foundations for Inclusive AI
The deliberations underscored the importance of public trust and of ensuring that AI develops in a manner that is safe, responsible and inclusive.
The India launch of the World Development Report 2026: The Promise of Artificial Intelligence brought the global development perspective on AI into dialogue with India’s experience of deploying the technology at scale. The discussions highlighted the need for countries to strengthen foundational capabilities, institutions, skills and policy frameworks so that advances in AI can translate into broad-based and sustainable development outcomes.
-PIB Inputs
