Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to add around $550 billion to India’s economy by 2035, focusing on sectors like agriculture, education, energy, healthcare, and manufacturing. A report highlighted that PwC India’s study, presented at the World Economic Forum in Davos 2026, emphasized the significant role of AI in shaping India’s economic future.
The study showcased India’s AI strategy, emphasizing goals beyond just efficiency and growth, including aspects like inclusion, governance, and institutional readiness. It positioned India as a potential global model for deploying AI at scale, integrating it into public systems and daily economic activities.
PwC’s report introduced a framework called 3A2I, focusing on Access, Acceptance, Assimilation, Implementation, and Institutionalization, as a playbook to scale AI effectively. The framework emphasizes ensuring data availability, digital infrastructure, skilled talent, public confidence, and seamless integration of AI into workflows for long-term success.
Various sector pilots have already demonstrated significant efficiency gains through AI applications, such as improved crop advisories in agriculture and enhanced disease detection in healthcare. The report also highlighted the potential benefits of AI, including operational excellence, sustainability, good governance, resilience, and financial discipline when deployed at scale.
AI-enabled platforms like MAITRI in Maharashtra are already driving industrial investments through automation and data-driven processes, enhancing business operations. In sectors like energy and healthcare, AI applications like smart metering systems and tuberculosis detection tools are showing promising results, improving financial discipline and disease surveillance.
Sanjeev Krishan, Chairperson of PwC in India, emphasized that AI presents India with the opportunity to redefine growth beyond traditional GDP metrics, aligning innovation with a people-centric development approach.
