Data and AI may add $500bn to India's GDP by 2025: Nasscom

Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) could add $450-500 billion to the country's GDP by 2025 and to harness its full potential, India needs to take a coordinated action to enhance data and AI capabilities at scale across all sectors in the country, a new Nasscom report said today.

In the near term, data and AI could support governments and businesses for effective Covid-19 response and economic recovery.

"AI has become a strategic lever for economic growth across nations and will continue to be one of the most crucial technologies of the future. In order to harness its full potential, India needs to embrace AI innovation and regulation with an open, inclusive, principle-based and a collaborative mindset," Union IT and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said while virtually launching the report, titled 'Unlock Value from Data and AI: The Indian Opportunity'.

According to the report, if India acts quickly, it can become a leader in building a holistic data utilisation and AI effort, especially as countries emerge from the pandemic and global economic slowdown.

"The three key interventions needed to create a vibrant data economy in India include — identify datasets of national importance with each ministry with specific use cases, launch programmes to create a marketplace of data and derived assets and establish a central agency for defining and enforcing data standards," the report mentioned.

Nasscom also announced that it will host "Xperience AI" virtual summit from September 1-4 in partnership with the Telangana AI Mission.

"Data and AI's true potential emerges from its ability to drive transformation across multiple sectors through a diverse range of applications," said Debjani Ghosh, President, Nasscom.

The report highlighted the importance of building an AI innovation ecosystem and seeking greater participation from the private sector and entrepreneurs.

"India has the potential to become a global hub for data and AI. The moment is now, to support and grow a vibrant AI ecosystem in India," said Anant Maheshwari, President, Microsoft India..