Budget 2024 has to provide an AI roadmap for Viksit Bharat

On the issue of AI last year, the finance minister had said that three centres of excellence for artificial intelligence would be set up at top educational institution.

No arena has so captured the attention of stakeholders everywhere in recent times as much as Artificial Intelligence has. The many discussions on various aspects connected with AI at forums linked with industry, governments, civil society, and academia, and, most recently, at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting at Davos, is testimony to this fact.

Given the huge buzz around AI, the question that, thus, comes to mind is whether this excitement regarding the technology could result in AI finding a more notable mention in the interim Budget for FY25 than what it did in the Budget for 2023-24.

Plans To Leverage AI

Ideally, in the form of the interim Budget for 2024-25 providing an indication of how the government plans to leverage AI to realise the Viksit (developed) Bharat goal and the strategy it is putting in place for this purpose. Keeping in mind the larger objective of ensuring a better quality of life, at par with those in the advanced West, for the country's 1.4 billion people who make up almost 18 percent of the global population.

On the issue of AI, while presenting the FY24 Budget (also the first Budget in Amrit Kaal), the finance minister had said that three centres of excellence for artificial intelligence would be set up at top educational institutions in the country for realizing the vision of “Make AI in India and Make AI work for India”.

Even without delving into specifics in the FY25 interim Budget, the FM underlining the government's thought process on AI – beyond responsible and safe use of the technology – would be an excellent way to let companies and policy makers globally know the general direction in which India would like to move on artificial intelligence during Amrit Kaal to realize its growth ambitions and make sure that the tech benefits all.

An AI Vision For Viksit Bharat

Besides outlining the nation's interests in order of importance when it comes to sectors where it would like to see AI being deployed faster to ensure that its more immediate targets of becoming a $5 trillion economy and becoming one of the top three economies globally are realised. Apart from showcasing the huge business opportunity that India, with a stable democracy and a high growth rate, presents to enterprises connected with the AI domain. And highlighting the enormous potential that India, with its large pool of scientific and technical manpower, has for becoming the AI factory of the world.

The FM speaking at some length on AI while presenting the interim Budget could, moreover, reinforce the message that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had conveyed on artificial intelligence while addressing the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) Summit 2023 on December 12. The PM had said then: “With AI, we are entering a new era. Artificial Intelligence is much more than a technological tool. AI is turning into the biggest means of shaping our new future. A great strength of AI is its ability to connect people. Proper use of AI not only ensures the economic progress of the country, but it also ensures equality and social justice.”

An interim Budget is never just about putting the mechanism in place for government functioning to continue unhindered till a new government is installed post the elections. It is also an opportunity for the incumbent government to make out a strong case for its policies and programmes that can benefit people. Outlining the AI vision for a Viksit Bharat falls in the latter category and it would be interesting to see what happens on February 1.

Sumali Moitra is a current affairs commentator. Twitter: @sumalimoitra. Views are personal, and do not represent the stance of this publication.