NDTV set the tone for the upcoming Ind.AI Summit with a high-impact technology dialogue at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, bringing together Union Minister for Electronics & IT, Information & Broadcasting, and Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw and IBM Chairman and CEO Arvind Krishna.

The conversation, held at the NDTV studios on the sidelines of the summit, focused on India’s long-term strategy in artificial intelligence and semiconductor manufacturing amid a rapidly shifting global technology landscape.

According to an NDTV press release, the session was curated as part of NDTV Ignite at Davos and reflected on how India is positioning itself in a global technology order increasingly shaped by competition between major powers. Moderated by Rahul Kanwal, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of NDTV, the discussion examined India’s approach to building sovereign capabilities in critical technologies at a time when leadership in AI and semiconductors is closely linked to economic strength and geopolitics.

A key moment came when Minister Vaishnaw outlined a clear timeline for India’s domestic semiconductor ambitions. Referring to the symbolic “empty nail” in his office, he said the country’s first indigenous semiconductor wafer will be produced in FY 2027–28 at Tata’s Dholera facility. He added that India’s phased roadmap aims to achieve 7-nanometre chip technology by 2030 and advance to 3-nanometre chips by 2032.

Arvind Krishna endorsed India’s step-by-step approach, calling it both necessary and strategically sound. He stressed that semiconductor manufacturing is not an area where countries can leapfrog stages easily, noting that even at 28 nanometres, manufacturers must place billions of transistors with near-perfect precision. Krishna pointed out that despite decades of sustained investment, China has yet to consistently reach the most advanced end of the semiconductor spectrum.

The dialogue also explored India’s evolving AI strategy, with both speakers underlining that the next phase of artificial intelligence will be driven not just by scale, but by specialised and sovereign models designed for national requirements. Vaishnaw said India is developing a portfolio of such models through startups and academic institutions, and revealed that an Indian-developed sovereign AI model has already been deployed in a recent national security scenario.

On the broader question of artificial general intelligence, Krishna described the global AI race as still being in its early stages, likening it to the opening innings of a Test match. He argued that future breakthroughs will depend on combining deep domain knowledge with machine learning, rather than relying solely on ever-larger models.

As NDTV prepares to host the Ind.AI Summit next month, the Davos conversation reinforced the network’s role in curating agenda-setting discussions on India’s technology future. At a time when global narratives are often framed as a contest between Washington and Beijing, NDTV Ignite at Davos presented a distinct third perspective, highlighting India’s steady and deliberate effort to build the foundations of a major technology power.