Pradeep Banerjee

Does India Really Need Billions of Dollars of AI Compute to Become a Superpower? India wants to become a major artificial-intelligence power. But there is a difficult question behind that ambition: does a country need to own enormous amounts of computing infrastructure to be a genuine AI superpower? The answer is not as simple as “yes.” Frontier AI requires extraordinary amounts of computing power. Training and operating the most capable models involves advanced processors, large data centres, enormous electricity requirements and sophisticated networking infrastructure. Countries and companies controlling these resources therefore possess an important strategic advantage. But AI is much larger than frontier-model training. India’s opportunity may lie not only in building enormous computing clusters, but also in deciding where sovereign infrastructure is essential, where collaboration is sensible and where Indian companies can create global value without owning every layer of the technology stack. That distinction could determine India’s AI strategy over the next decade. The compute problem is real Artificial intelligence ultimately runs on physical infrastructure. Behind every large language model are semiconductor accelerators, servers, networking equipment, cooling systems, electricity and data-centre capacity. The most advanced AI systems require huge computational resources. Access to cutting-edge chips has also become

Why Tiny Minerals Matter to Big Technology Oil once defined the vocabulary of strategic resources. Today, some of the most consequential materials in the global economy are far less glamorous. They can fit into a laboratory container, appear as obscure entries on a periodic table and rarely make the evening news. Yet gallium and germanium sit inside technologies that increasingly define economic and national security — from semiconductors and optical communications to defence electronics, infrared systems and advanced energy technologies. For India, their importance is growing at precisely the moment the country is trying to build semiconductor manufacturing, expand high-technology production and strengthen domestic defence capabilities. The uncomfortable question is therefore not simply whether India has enough minerals. It is whether India can build a reliable supply chain from mineral resources to refined material to finished technology. Why gallium and germanium matter India’s Ministry of Mines included both gallium and germanium in its official list of 30 critical minerals released in 2023. The classification reflects their importance to strategic industries and the risks associated with concentrated supply chains. Gallium is particularly important for compound semiconductors such as gallium arsenide (GaAs) and gallium nitride (GaN). These materials have applications in high-frequency

If Washington and Beijing Make Peace on Trade, What Happens to India’s China+1 Opportunity? For several years, one of the most repeated phrases in global manufacturing has been “China+1.” The idea is simple: companies that have traditionally depended heavily on China add another manufacturing location…