India AI Summit 2026, a five-day event being held from February 16 to 20, 2026, in New Delhi. This event marks a fundamental shift. For the first time, a major global AI summit is being hosted in the Global South, positioning India not just as a consumer of technology, but as its principal architect for public good.
Whether you are a startup founder looking for investment, a policymaker drafting regulations, or an enterprise leader scaling Generative AI, this summit is the “Ground Zero” for the next decade of innovation.
Event Overview Of India AI Summit 2026
The India AI Summit 2026 is an massive undertaking led by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) in collaboration with the IndiaAI Mission.
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Dates: February 16 – 20, 2026
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Primary Venue: Bharat Mandapam, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi
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Other Venues: Sushma Swaraj Bhawan and Ambedkar Bhawan (for specialized roundtables and symposia)
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Theme: “Sarvajana Hitaya, Sarvajana Sukhaya” (Welfare for All, Happiness of All)
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Pillars (Sutras): The summit is built on three foundational pillars: People, Planet, and Progress.
The scale is unprecedented. The India AI Summit 2026 Expo alone covers over 70,000 square meters, featuring more than 840 exhibitors from 30+ countries. With over two lakh registered participants—including a significant representation of farmers and grassroots workers—the event is designed to bridge the gap between high-tech labs and real-world application.
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Key Highlights
The CEO Roundtable
On February 19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address a closed-door plenary and a CEO roundtable. Expected attendees include:
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Sundar Pichai (Google & Alphabet)
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Sam Altman (OpenAI)
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Dario Amodei (Anthropic)
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Sir Demis Hassabis (Google DeepMind)
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Jensen Huang (Nvidia – delegation confirmed)
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Mukesh Ambani (Reliance Industries)
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N. Chandrasekaran (Tata Sons)
Government & Diplomatic Presence
Leaders from 20 nations, including French President Emmanuel Macron and Brazilian President Lula da Silva, are attending. Their presence highlights the “Sovereign AI” movement, where nations seek to build their own AI compute capacity rather than relying solely on global monopolies.
Startup Showcase
A standout feature is the “AI by HER” Global Impact Challenge, implemented with NITI Aayog. It highlights scalable AI solutions built by women entrepreneurs, focusing on social empowerment and inclusive growth.
Focus Areas
The India AI Summit 2026 is organized around “Seven Chakras” of AI Impact, moving away from purely commercial talk to tangible outcomes.
Generative & Agentic AI
The shift in 2026 is from “Talkative AI” to “Agentic AI.” Sessions are exploring how AI agents can operate inside internal tools (ERPs, CRMs) to perform tasks autonomously, which analysts predict will add $1 trillion to the Indian economy by 2035.
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AI in Healthcare & Agriculture
The government launched six Sectoral AI Impact Casebooks during the summit.
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Healthcare: AI-powered telemedicine and symptom checkers are connecting rural patients to specialists.
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Agriculture: AI models are being used for crop planning and weather resilience, supported by the World Bank.
Safe, Trusted & Regulated AI
With the Safe and Trusted AI Working Group, India is advocating for a middle path in regulation—one that encourages innovation while ensuring verifiable accountability and transparency.
India’s AI Growth Story
India has moved from being the “Back Office of the World” to the “Execution Layer for AI.”
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The Sovereign AI Push: The IndiaAI Mission is supported by over INR 10,000 crore and a planned 40,000 GPU compute infrastructure.
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Vernacular Dominance: 2026 marks the year when Hindi, Telugu, and Tamil AI models have begun to outperform English models in regional context, narrowing the metro vs. tier-2 city gap to just 23%.
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Investment Goals: India is eyeing $100 billion in investment commitments during this five-day window, spanning semiconductors, AI infrastructure, and energy.
Why You Should Attend
For businesses and professionals, the AI Summit India 2026 offers:
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Investment Opportunities: Startups are gaining direct access to global VCs and sovereign wealth funds.
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Strategic Partnerships: The “AI Collaboration Hub” is where MoUs between universities, startups, and global tech giants are being signed.
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Talent & Hiring: With the focus on the “Human Capital Chakra,” the summit is the best place to understand the reskilling landscape.
How to Attend AI Summit India 2026
While the main plenary on February 19 is invite-only, the India AI Summit 2026 and various Research Symposia are open to registered visitors.
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Registration: Managed through the official http://impact.indiaai.gov.in portal.
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Categories: Delegate, Student, Exhibitor, and Media.
The AI Summit India 2026 is a declaration of intent. India is moving from “experimenting” with AI to “compounding” its benefits. By anchoring the summit in the needs of the Global South, India is ensuring that the future of artificial intelligence is not just powerful, but equitable. The moat is no longer just the algorithm—it is the execution depth. If you aren’t integrating Agentic AI into your core workflows by the end of 2026, you aren’t just behind the curve; you are off the map.
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