Hari

Abstract With the United States and China dominating the race for AI, and building capabilities across the full stack of AI, India needs to take radical action to defend its strategic autonomy. In light of the massive lead that the U.S. and China have in AI, the fastest, most

Abstract Digital lending promises to expand access to finance for borrowers excluded from traditional credit systems. Yet women in India continue to face a striking paradox. They outperform men on conventional measures of creditworthiness but receive less than a quarter of the country’s outstanding credit, with only14 per cent

Suruchi Kumari & Osama Manzar Abstract The growing integration of agentic AI into Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) is likely to reshape welfare governance in India, raising important questions about citizens' rights, accountability, transparency, and inclusion. This essay examines the implications of integrating agentic AI into welfare governance through a

Sarayu Natarajan and Astha Kapoor Abstract  Artificial Intelligence is reshaping global geopolitics by redefining economic power, technological sovereignty, and security paradigms. For India, AI is a strategic imperative and an arena of opportunity as it enables key advancements in economic growth, governance, defence, and innovation. India occupies a dual position

Ruchi Gupta Abstract India's central risk from artificial intelligence is not mass technological unemployment but increased productivity without labour absorption: firms becoming more efficient while the economy loses the institutions through which young people enter work, acquire judgment, and move into economic citizenship. India may be less exposed

Rahul Matthan Abstract Data protection and copyright law are two of the principal legal frameworks invoked in the governance of artificial intelligence. This paper argues that applying these frameworks to AI without reconsidering their underlying premises risks constraining the technology and limiting its potential benefits. Data protection law rests on

Rahul Kulkarni Abstract In this article, the author argues that artificial intelligence should be viewed as a national capability requiring institutional infrastructure rather than merely advanced models or computing resources. It proposes a National Intelligence Framework with four interconnected pillars: Knowledge Infrastructure, Intelligence Economy, Intelligence Governance and Economic Participation. The

Rahul De’  April 2, 2026  Abstract  This essay examines data governance through the lens of the ancient Chinese yin-yang philosophy, arguing that data possesses dual, complementary, and sometimes opposing characteristics that policy must balance. Rather than treating data through singular metaphors such as “oil,” “knowledge,” or “infrastructure,” it proposes

Purnima Rohilla and Anupam Guha Abstract In recent years, there has been a significant increase in discussions regarding AI sovereignty among Indian policymakers. Before one can build institutions, frameworks, and governance mechanisms for AI in India around the question of sovereignty, there is a need for empirical work to understand

Preeti Raghunath Abstract India is witnessing an increase in investments into AI data centres, including what is claimed to be the world’s largest. With a strategic vision aimed at incentivising foreign investments in AI data centres, this essay argues for safeguards for local resources, livelihoods, and environmental impacts. It