AI could add more than $500 billion to India's economy by 2030

Bengaluru: Artificial Intelligence (AI) could add more than $500 billion to the country's economy by 2030, revealed a new study by the IBM Institute for Business Value and IndiaAI.

Four in five business leaders said AI investment will directly shape the country's GDP growth. At the same time, 74 per cent know that technology alone won’t deliver it—governance, social infrastructure, and skills must evolve just as fast.

The country's enterprises are signalling a turn to AI at scale. According to the findings, 62 per cent of Indian enterprises expect to be scaling AI by 2030. The next wave of AI scale in India will depend on platforms that can move data and insights instantly and securely, across the enterprise and beyond, it said.

When it comes to AI literacy among employees, the current rate is 30 per cent, and executives have stated that they need this number to nearly double by 2030, with 57 per cent of their 600 million-person workforce expected to be AI literate. This suggests the total AI talent needed in India will be more than 350 million by 2030.

S Krishnan, Secretary -MeitY, Government of India, said, “India is no longer just participating in the global AI conversation; we are helping shape it. Our vision is clear. AI must evolve as an extension of our people’s aspirations, driving inclusive growth and national progress."

For India, AI is more than a technological milestone—it is a force that can widen opportunity and strengthen public services, he added.

Though 73 per cent of executives said India would rank among the world’s top AI nations by 2030, about 72 per cent admit their organisations are still behind global peers today in AI adoption.

Highlighting the $500 billion opportunity, the findings also noted that this stands in contrast to systemic barriers, including skills shortages, governance gaps, and infrastructure constraints. "If India can align its enterprise strategies, industry ecosystems, and global positioning, it will not just participate in the AI economy; it will define its direction and its rules. If India gets this alignment right, AI becomes more than a technology shift," the report added.

“AI has the potential to become one of the most powerful growth engines for India’s economy,” said Sandip Patel, Managing Director, IBM India & South Asia. “What will set India apart is not just the scale of adoption, but how organisations build trusted AI agents and systems on strong data foundations, hybrid architectures, and a workforce empowered to work alongside AI. With the right investments in skills, governance, and infrastructure, India can translate AI ambition into sustained economic impact,” he added.