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 — and India, Vietnam, Mexico and several other economies have competed for that additional role. But what happens if the world’s two largest economies decide to make their relationship somewhat less confrontational? That question has suddenly become more relevant. Chinese President Xi Jinping is visiting the United States from September 23 to 25, at the invitation of US President Donald Trump, with the two leaders expected to discuss trade and broader strategic issues. Current reporting points to negotiations involving tariffs, critical minerals, technology and artificial intelligence. The answer for India is not simply “good” or “bad.” A US-China thaw could reduce one of the immediate incentives for companies to diversify away from China. But it would not automatically erase the longer-term reasons businesses have been building additional supply-chain capacity outside China. For India, that distinction could become crucial. The first part of the China+1 story was tariffs US tariffs have been a powerful reason for

Why Europe’s Biggest Market Opportunity Could Change the Way India Does Business There are trade agreements, and then there are trade agreements that make exporters start checking their calculators twice. The India–European Union Free Trade Agreement (FTA) belongs to the second category. On January 27, 2026, India and the European Union announced the conclusion of negotiations for their long-awaited FTA at the 16th India–EU Summit in New Delhi. It followed years of negotiations and the formal relaunch of talks in 2022. But there is an important distinction: the negotiations have been concluded; the agreement has not yet entered into force. Legal revision, approvals, signing and the respective internal procedures still have to be completed. The Indian government says the FTA will enter into force after India and the EU exchange written notifications confirming completion of their internal legal procedures, unless they mutually agree another date. That distinction may sound like legal paperwork. For Indian exporters, however, it is the difference between “opportunity coming” and “opportunity available.” A market of roughly 2 billion people The scale is difficult to ignore. India and the EU together represent a market of around 2 billion people, approximately one-quarter of global GDP, and around one-third

From Workers to World Leaders There was a time when the story of Indians going abroad was largely told through airports: a suitcase, a passport, a job offer and a family waving goodbye. Today, that story looks very different. An Indian abroad may be a software engineer in Silicon Valley, a doctor in London, an entrepreneur in Dubai, an academic in Australia, a construction worker in the Gulf—or the person sitting in the corner office of one of the world’s biggest technology companies. India’s global presence is no longer simply about migration. It is about skills, businesses, money, ideas, culture and leadership moving across borders. According to data from India’s Ministry of External Affairs, approximately 35.42 million overseas Indians were recorded as of May 2024, including about 15.85 million non-resident Indians and 19.57 million people of Indian origin. The community stretches across more than 200 countries and territories. That number is large enough to create a small thought experiment: if the overseas Indian community were a country, it would be one of the world’s larger populations. But numbers alone do not explain its significance. From migration to leadership One of the most visible changes has happened in corporate leadership. Satya

Beyond India’s Borders: How Global Tenders Can Open New Markets for Indian Businesses For a small Indian manufacturer, service provider or exporter, entering an overseas market can appear to require enormous resources: finding buyers, understanding foreign procurement systems, establishing credibility and competing with companies already familiar with the market. But there is another route to international business that is often less visible to the general public: global public and private tenders. The Indian Trade Portal’s Global Tender Service is designed around this opportunity. According to the portal, its service brings international tender opportunities to Indian exporters across more than 100 countries and 25 business sectors. The platform also maintains past tenders, allowing businesses to examine previous opportunities and understand markets. The idea is straightforward: instead of waiting for an overseas buyer to discover an Indian company, an Indian business can actively look for procurement opportunities in international markets. A different way to think about exports Export growth is often associated with large corporations, established brands and major manufacturing groups. Global tenders present a different possibility. The Indian Trade Portal specifically identifies MSMEs, Indian manufacturers and service companies among the businesses that can benefit from its Global Tender Service. The objective