MeitY Launches AI Impact Startup Book at India Impact Summit 2026
FinTech BizNews Service
Mumbai, 18 February 2026: The third day of the India AI Impact Summit 2026 witnessed the launch of the AI Impact Startup Book, a comprehensive study that captures the scale, diversity, and growing global footprint of India’s artificial intelligence and deep-tech startup ecosystem. The publication presents insights from a large sample of startups and highlights emerging trends across sectors, technologies, and geographies.
The report points to a strong presence of AI innovation in core sectors such as healthcare, alongside the rapid expansion of work in areas including foundation models, databases, and waste-tech solutions. It also underscores the growing development of voice- and vision-based applications tailored to India’s needs, the rise of startups beyond major metropolitan centres, and the role of government partnerships in enabling deployment and scale. The study further notes the emergence of indigenous AI infrastructure, the growing integration of edge AI with hardware capabilities, and the transition of several startups from early-stage impact to global growth.
Shri Abhishek Singh, Director General, NIC and Additional Secretary, MeitY and CEO of India AI emphasised that while the development of AI infrastructure—ranging from data centres and datasets to foundation models—is critical, the true measure of success lies in its ability to improve access to services and deliver tangible benefits for citizens, particularly in sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, education and employment. He noted that a large number of Indian startups are already building impactful solutions in these areas, and that there is a growing need for a structured mechanism to identify, evaluate and scale such innovations across government and public systems.
Highlighting the objective behind the publication, he said the compendium provides a first-of-its-kind consolidated repository of AI solutions being developed in India, enabling ministries, states and institutions to assess their maturity, understand their real-world performance and adopt them for population-scale deployment. He added that initiatives such as language-enabled agricultural advisory services demonstrate the potential of AI to deliver last-mile access across multiple Indian languages and dialects, provided richer datasets and coordinated implementation efforts are undertaken.
He underlined that the next phase of India’s AI journey will depend on systematically connecting solution providers with implementing agencies and moving from pilot-stage innovation to large-scale adoption across sectors.
In his address, he said that if India has to become the use-case capital, it will need to scale up their impactful solutions. He remarked that one hundred solutions are listed here, and if in the next 12 to 18 months, we can scale up even 10 of them, it will be a significant step forward.
Addressing the gathering, Mr. Sushant Kumar, Founder and CEO, Kalpa Impact, said that a set of eight insights have been derived across this entire sample. “I would like to take out the eight insights that stood out to us. First, you see sectors like health represented, but we are also now seeing a breadth of innovative sectors based on foundation models and databases. Close to 47% of our early-stage ventures have a local presence, and by the growth stage, nearly 68% are operating internationally. India is building foundation models. India is building infrastructure. And last, but not least, is edge innovation. With that, I would welcome you to explore this book,” he said.
The launch underscored the growing maturity of India’s AI startup landscape and its evolution from early experimentation to globally competitive innovation, supported by an enabling policy environment, access to digital public infrastructure and expanding international market linkages.
Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, today announced that India has successfully achieved the Guinness World Records title for the “Most pledges received for an AI responsibility campaign in 24 hours,” with a staggering 250,946 valid pledges received during the 24-hour period from February 16–17.
The announcement was made during the India AI Impact Summit 2026 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, in the presence of Shri S. Krishnan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY); Shri Abhishek Singh, Additional Secretary, MeitY, CEO, IndiaAI Mission and DG, NIC; Ms. Kavita Bhatia, COO, IndiaAI; Mr. Srinivasan Iyengar, SVP and GM, Central Engineering Group, Intel; and Mr. Pravin Patel, Guinness World Records Adjudicator, who officially verified the achievement.
The nationwide AI Responsibility Pledge campaign, launched under the IndiaAI Mission in collaboration with Intel India on February 16, sought to mobilise citizens across the country to commit to the ethical, inclusive, and responsible use of Artificial Intelligence through the dedicated portal, aipledge.indiaai.gov.in. The initiative encouraged participants to reflect on key principles such as data privacy, accountability, transparency, and combating misinformation through scenario-based questions, thereby reinforcing India’s vision of building a trustworthy and human-centric AI ecosystem. Participants who completed the pledge received a digital badge and access to AI learning pathways.
Addressing the media, Shri Vaishnaw hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of engaging youth in the responsible and ethical use of AI. “It is his vision that inspired us to reach out to colleges, engage with faculty members, and encourage students to take this pledge to use AI as a tool for the good of society — as a technology that improves our lives — and to ensure it is used responsibly. A special round of applause to the 250,000 students who have taken this pledge. This is truly a proud day for the country. This is the direction in which the nation must move — towards a future where AI is embraced with responsibility.”
The Minister highlighted that the record-setting participation — far exceeding the initial target of 5,000 pledges — reflects strong public engagement and growing awareness around responsible AI adoption. He noted that the campaign represents a significant milestone in citizen-led digital responsibility and demonstrates India’s commitment to shaping the global AI discourse with a focus on inclusion, ethics, and public trust.
