At the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), announced a monumental ₹10 lakh crore (≈ $110 billion) investment plan over the next seven years to position India as a global leader in artificial intelligence. Far from sounding alarm bells about automation taking away jobs, Ambani confidently argued that AI will not eliminate employment but instead create new, high skill opportunities. His address outlined a vision where AI infrastructure becomes as widespread and affordable as mobile data a dramatic shift in how the technology is deployed and consumed across the country.
Author: Aashiya Jain | EQMint | Events
A New Vision for AI in India
Mukesh Ambani’s keynote at the summit was a bold declaration of intent. Speaking to policymakers, tech leaders, and industry stakeholders, he framed AI not as a threat but as an engine for inclusive economic growth and job creation. Ambani stressed that while AI often raises concerns about displacement, it will instead unlock avenues for new types of work, especially those requiring advanced skills and creativity.
His argument was grounded in optimism about India’s demographic and technological strengths from nearly a billion internet users to established digital public infrastructure like Aadhaar and UPI, which together give the country a strong foundation for AI adoption and scale.
The ₹10 Lakh Crore Commitment
The centerpiece of Ambani’s speech was the unveiling of a ₹10 lakh crore investment programme to be undertaken by Reliance and its telecom arm Jio Platforms over the next seven years. This is one of the largest private sector AI commitments announced in India’s history and it underscores Reliance’s strategy to transition from being a telecom and energy powerhouse to a driver of India’s AI transformation.
Ambani described the investment as “patient disciplined nation-building capital” a long-term commitment focused on structural value rather than short-term speculative gains. The scale of this investment is massive and it’s clear Ambani is positioning Reliance as a leader in India’s AI future.
It’s not just about making quick money it’s about building something lasting and impactful. The telecom and energy sectors have been Reliance’s stronghold for years but now there’s a clear shift towards AI and technology-driven growth. This move could reshape India’s tech landscape and it shows how serious Reliance is about staying ahead of the curve.
Three Pillars of the AI Infrastructure Plan
Ambani outlined a three-pronged approach to build India’s sovereign AI ecosystem:
1. Gigawatt-Scale AI Data Centres:
Construction is already underway on multi-gigawatt, AI-ready facilities at Jamnagar. The first 120 megawatts of compute capacity are expected to come online in the latter half of 2026, laying the path for large-scale model training and inference infrastructure.
2. Green Power Advantage:
Utilising up to 10 GW of surplus renewable power from solar installations in Kutch and Andhra Pradesh, Reliance plans to power energy-intensive AI computing sustainably and cost-effectively a significant advantage in a sector where power costs can dominate operating expenses.
3. Nationwide Edge Compute Layer:
Integrated with Jio’s connectivity network, this edge computing strategy aims to deliver low-latency AI services across India from cities to rural towns bringing intelligence “closer to where people live, learn and work.”
This blueprint is designed to make AI not just accessible to elite tech hubs but broadly available across sectors and geographies.
Democratising Intelligence, Not Just Connectivity
One of Ambani’s most repeated messages was that India must not “rent intelligence” from abroad; instead, the country should develop its own sovereign compute and AI stack much as Reliance and Jio once drove down the cost of mobile data to democratise connectivity.
By building local infrastructure at scale, Ambani argued, AI can be made as affordable and ubiquitous as mobile phones a shift with far-reaching implications for businesses, education, healthcare, agriculture, and government services.
AI and the Future of Work
Addressing widespread anxieties about AI replacing human jobs, Ambani was emphatic:
“We will prove that AI will not take away jobs. Rather, it will create new high-skill work opportunities.”
He stressed that AI is not just another technology but a transformative force that will augment productivity, foster innovation, and create new categories of employment across industries. The focus, he said, should be on preparing the workforce with the skills needed to thrive in an AI-enabled economy.
Collaborative Ecosystem and Inclusion
Ambani also highlighted plans for broad collaboration with Indian enterprises, startups, research institutions like IITs and IISc, and global tech partners. These alliances aim to embed AI across sectors such as manufacturing, logistics, energy, finance, agriculture, healthcare, and education driving innovation and shared growth opportunities.
A notable focus is multilingual AI that can interact in native Indian languages, ensuring that the benefits of AI reach rural communities, small businesses, students, and workers in their own linguistic and cultural contexts.
Looking Forward: India’s Place in the AI Future
Mukesh Ambani’s announcement at the India AI Impact Summit really shook things up in the country’s tech scene. With this massive multi-trillion-rupee investment plan and a vision that’s all about building sovereign AI infrastructure making AI accessible to everyone and pushing for inclusive growth India is now set to become a major player in the global AI ecosystem.
Whether it’s helping startups get affordable compute power leading the way with multilingual AI tools or putting intelligence into everyday life the commitment here is clear. It’s a long-term push to make India not just a consumer of AI technology but a creator and curator of intelligent solutions for the world.
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