Made-In-India Chip This Year; Country On Track To Produce Own AI Model: Ashwini Vaishnaw

Last Updated:April 09, 2025, 20:43 IST

The union minister also said that Indian Railways will have three major changes in the next few years

Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw attends a panel discussion on AI and tech at the Rising Bharat Summit. (Image: News18)

India is on track to produce its own AI model and is bound to grow in electronics manufacturing, union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday at the CNN-News18 Rising Bharat Summit 2025 in Delhi.

“Every country which got into electronics manufacturing, they all started with the same process, be it South Korea or Vietnam. Most countries had a similar phase of starting from scratch. We’re following the same trajectory that these countries followed initially. We’re now at the components stage," said Vaishnaw. He added that electronics manufacturing has grown at a 17 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) and exports at 20 per cent CAGR in the last five years despite the Covid pandemic.

The minister said that electronics manufacturing is now employing 25 lakh people, which has a significant number of women.

Asked if the government would allow Chinese phone sellers like Vivo and Oppo to enter into an alliance for manufacturing in India under performance-linked incentive (PLI) schemes, Vaishnaw said, “Any country, or company that wants to work in India has full freedom to work here. Companies usually want to enter JVs when they aspire to grow at a faster pace."

Talking about India’s progress in artificial intelligence, he said, “Computing power and talent have given an edge to developers and startups."

Asked if India was behind in the AI race, Vaishnaw said this is the first chapter of the AI boom, and it has only recently become business-to-consumer (B2C) where everyone is using AI. “We are not late; we are in the race and will be among the top few countries to harness the power of the new tech," the minister said.

India needs to be careful adopting AI, and the ability to have control over this tech as a country is important, as biases are dangerous and can have a negative impact, he said.

Vaishnaw said that India would start producing chips this year, and plants are currently being set up while validation is under process. “We will have made-in-India chip this year," he said.

Tech billionaire Elon Musk’s social media platform X has filed a legal petition in the Karnataka High Court challenging the central government’s use of Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology (IT) Act for content blocking. According to X Corp, this provision is being misused to create a censorship mechanism through the Sahyog Portal, bypassing the statutory safeguards outlined in Section 69A.

Reacting to this, Vaishnaw said, “This is not the first time that a social media platform has challenged the government. It is a very common thing. Ultimately, platforms have to follow Indian laws."

Comedian Samay Raina and podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia are under fire over the latter’s crass remarks on the former’s show India’s Got Latent, with law enforcement agencies and courts now involved.

Speaking on this, Vaishnaw said, “We are all staying in a society. We must, as users of technology, whether we are content creators or consumers of technology, we should understand our responsibility. I should see what my boundary should be."

Vaishnaw said that Indian Railways will have three major changes in the next few years. “First, where we are today, safety will improve more significantly. There should be a further reduction of 80 per cent in rail accidents. Second, capacity will increase; we’re now the second country in terms of railways. Third, our trains ranging from Vande Bharat, Namo Bharat to the upcoming Bullet trains…tech will only enhance as new trains are inaugurated," he said.

The minister added that the aim of railways is to provide affordable transport to low-income and middle-income travellers, saying India has one of the cheapest railways in the world.

News india Made-In-India Chip This Year; Country On Track To Produce Own AI Model: Ashwini Vaishnaw