Infrastructure | Why India must build its own AI stack - by Pratyush Kumar

India's AI future depends on building the infrastructure, knowledge and talent to develop, improve and secure intelligence at scale(Illustration by Nilanjan Das/AI)ISSUE DATE: Oct 19, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 22:04 IST Every time an Indian doctor corrects an AI’s summary of a case file or a lawyer flags a misread clause, someone’s model can get a little better. The question is whose? If India only buys access to foreign AI, its users will spend the next decade teaching other countries’ systems while paying for the privilege. India must build its own AI stack because its place in the AI economy will depend on three capacities that cannot be bought: manufacturing intelligence at scale, improving it through use, and growing the people who advance it.