PM Modi instructs IndiaAI startups to present indigenous AI applications at the conference in February

PM Modi Urges AI Startups to Showcase Best Products at India AI Impact Summit 2026

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged Indian artificial intelligence (AI) startups to showcase their strongest products and solutions at the upcoming India AI Impact Summit 2026, positioning the event as a key platform for global visibility and leadership.

During a closed-door roundtable held at his residence on January 8, Modi met around a dozen founders from the IndiaAI Mission cohort, encouraging them to put their “best foot forward” by launching products and demonstrating real-world use cases at the summit scheduled for February 2026.

According to founders present at the meeting, the prime minister emphasised that India already possesses the talent density required to compete globally and called on startups to aim beyond experimental tools and prototypes.

The startups, selected under the government’s IndiaAI Mission, operate across sectors such as healthcare, materials science, ecommerce and Indian language models, and are planning product demos and launches to capitalise on the international attention the summit is expected to attract.

The meeting was also attended by Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and senior officials from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). Modi stressed the importance of safe, trusted and authenticated AI, asking founders to prioritise transparency, trust and watermarking in their models to ensure regulatory compliance and user confidence.

“Build in India, for India, but also for the globe,” Modi told founders, according to participants. He cited India’s digital public infrastructure success, including UPI, as proof of the country’s ability to build globally scalable technology platforms.

“India has helped global companies across retail, healthcare, manufacturing and supply chains become digital-native over the last two decades. AI now brings a new degree of freedom,” said Sravanth Aluru, cofounder and CEO of Avataar AI, who attended the meeting.

Founded in 2014 and based in Bengaluru, Avataar AI develops AI-driven 3D visualisation and enterprise solutions for retail and ecommerce. The company plans to showcase real-world use cases at the summit. “The prime minister called for the IndiaAI Mission to be a collaborative effort,” Aluru said.

Ganesh Gopalan, cofounder and CEO of conversational AI startup Gnani AI, said Modi highlighted India’s linguistic and use-case diversity as a strategic advantage. “If you succeed in India, you’re ready for the world,” Gopalan said, noting the company’s work across 14 Indian languages and its recent expansion into the Philippines, Japan and the US.

Small language model developer Genloop, another IndiaAI cohort startup, said the discussions focused on how India can move from participating in the AI revolution to leading it globally.

The India AI Impact Summit 2026 is expected to serve as a flagship event for showcasing India’s AI capabilities, innovation depth and readiness to shape the next phase of global AI development.