- The policy should be amended to promote the development of data centres in India to ensure that Indians’ data remains inside India: Akash Ambani to PM
NE BUSINESS BUREAU
NEW DELHI, OCT 15
Reliance Jio’s chairman Akash Ambani on Tuesday advocated for the establishment of data centres in India to store AI (Artificial Intelligence) and Indian users’ data.
For the development of indigenous AI capabilities and applications, Akash also sought the development of domestic data centres and called for the retention of data generated in India within India.
Speaking at the India Mobile Congress 2024 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, Akash said that AI is the “most revolutionary tool of transformation invented by the human mind” and it will “disruptively transform every aspect of our lives, society, and economy, and usher in “an era of unimaginable abundance and efficiency”.
“AI is absolutely critical for realising our dream of Viksit Bharat by 2047. Therefore, India under your leadership should urgently embrace AI with a holistic strategy driven by maximum atmanirbhar efforts,” said Akash addressing Prime Minister Narendra Modi in attendance.
As for the potential of AI, Akash said that the AI has the potential to completely transform the manufacturing sector, including small and medium enterprises (SMEs), “so that India becomes the new-age factory and new-age services centre for the world”.
The AI can also transform the agriculture sector “so that our farmers can become prosperous by growing more with less water” and the health sectors so that quality healthcare for all can become a reality and the education sector so that every Indian student can have the best of learning opportunities, said Akash.
To realise these things, Akash said that Reliance’s Jio is laying the groundwork of national AI infrastructure.
“At Jio, we have begun our efforts to bring the benefits of AI to every Indian, everywhere, just as we did with mobile broadband. We are committed to democratising AI, offering powerful AI models and services to everyone in India at affordable prices. Towards this end, we are laying the groundwork for a national AI infrastructure,” said Akash.
In his second suggestion to Modi, Akash said that that the policy should be amended to promote the development of data centres in India to ensure that Indians’ data remains inside India.
Linking the two suggestions, Akash said that the Indian companies wishing to set up data centres domestically should get all the support as such infrastructure is needed for the data generated with the advent of AI.
“The scale and speed of multilingual data generation in India, which will drive the AI revolution, will grow exponentially. We request the government to expedite the updating of the 2020 draft of the Data Centre Policy. Indian data should remain in Indian data centres. Therefore, Indian companies ready to set up AI and machine learning data centers should get all necessary incentives, including incentives for power consumption,” said Akash.
Airtel Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal highlighted the telecom operator’s commitment to providing secure communication to users through the recently launched AI spam call and message blocking technology. Kumar Mangalam Birla, the Chairman of Vodafone-Idea, also expressed readiness to collaborate with the government in leveraging AI for various initiatives.
