MC EXCLUSIVE Davos 2026: Up to $100 billion investments may be announced at India AI Impact Summit, says Ashwini Vaishnaw

Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw at World Economic Forum in Davos on January 22

• India AI Summit may announce up to $100 billion in new investments.
• Global tech leaders and France's President Macron to attend summit in New Delhi
• Interest spans AI, semiconductors, infrastructure, and energy sectors

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India could see announcements of up to $100 billion in new investments during the upcoming India AI Impact Summit, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on January 22, citing strong interest from global technology companies.

The summit is scheduled to happen in New Delhi from February 16 to 20, and is expected to be attended by global leaders such as French President Emmanuel Macron, global technology leaders such as Bill Gates, Google Deepmind's Demis Hassabis and others.

Speaking to Moneycontrol at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Vaishnaw said, "Already $70 billion investment is happening, and we expect that during the AI Summit another $52, $70, or maybe even $80 billion investment should be coming," Vaishnaw said. "I wouldn’t be surprised if we get another $100 billion."

Vaishnaw is the minister for Electronics and Information Technology, Railways and Information & Broadcasting.

The interest, he said, spans sectors including artificial intelligence, semiconductors, infrastructure and energy.

Also read: India-US engagement strong, industry sentiment positive after President Trump's remarks, says Ashwini Vaishnaw

Vaishnaw noted that meetings with leading AI and chip executives at Davos reflected a clear view of India’s strengths.

"First, a very big source of talent, lot of R&D going on in India, lots and lots of innovation happening out of India," he said.

"Second, practically every big AI player looks at India as the country which will dominate the application layer, the services and solution layer," the minister explained.

The third area of interest, he said, was semiconductors. "Getting optimised silicon for your model and getting the silicon for the edge — that is going to be the key defining feature going forward," Vaishnaw said.

He also highlighted progress on semiconductor manufacturing. "In just four short years, the first commercial production should start in February, last week," he said, referring to Micron’s India plant.

On January 22, Vaishnaw met with CEOs of Maersk, Honeywell and Temasek and said that these companies are looking to deepen their engagement in India.