Digital Public Infrastructure: Will A DPI Approach Transform Indian AI? — Beyond Tomorrow
Key to the success of the DPI for AI would be the infrastructure availability at its core and the depth of the model and algorithmic ecosystem built around it.
India can rightfully claim that it showed the world how best to build and use Digital Public Infrastructure — open and interoperable foundational digital systems enabling secure interactions between citizens, government and businesses.
Aadhaar and UPI are hailed by everyone as standout successes in digital identity and digital payments and UPI is now available in eight other nations besides India — Singapore, UAE, France, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Qatar, Mauritius and Nepal, and more countries are expected to accept UPI as a payment mode as India seeks to export its biggest DPI success.
To ensure that AI benefits all, India sees the need to democratise AI infrastructure — the building blocks of AI like data, compute and models and algorithms need to be made widely accessible and usable. These building blocks need to scale beyond large firms and urban hubs. To do this, India is proposing a DPI model where development of AI systems would leverage existing DPI platforms.
A white paper recently released by the government explained the concept as "establishing shared, standards-based layers that improve access interoperability, accountability and trust". It went to state that DPI for AI should be understood not as a single platform or monolithic system, but as a set of modular public-good enablers that address specific coordination gaps in the AI ecosystem.
Further, the white paper defined the value of this approach in creating predictable, transparent and interoperable access pathways, particularly for smaller firms, research institutions, and startups that face prohibitive entry barriers. By reducing costs, standardising interfaces and establishing common governance norms, the government hopes that DPI can meaningfully expand the base of participants who can benefit from AI infrastructure.
The convergence of AI and DPI is not a new idea. In governance alone, this offers immense new possibilities in better service delivery through improved fraud detection and better grievance redressal and predictive capabilities in areas like flagging sectors or companies at risk and forecasting crop losses, etc.
At the same time, it's important to remember that India's DPI platforms have not all become runaway successes. Take the much talked about Open Network for Digital Commerce. The platform threatened to upset the applecart of private e-commerce giants but as it completes three years of operations soon F&B and mobility in some markets are doing reasonably well on ONDC, but there is still a long way to go to meet its promise and potential.
A 2025 year-end review by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade reveals average daily transactions on ONDC have reached 5.9 lakh-plus, but to put that into perspective, just the top three companies in quick commerce — BlinkIt, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart — do around 8X more transactions than ONDC daily.
Key to the success of the DPI for AI would be the infrastructure availability at its core and the depth of the model and algorithmic ecosystem built around it. A DPI approach is certainly critical for building openness, interoperability, inclusion and trust into the foundations of AI in India and learning from countries like US, where billionaires and their companies seem to be driving not just the development of AI systems but also regulation.
Meanwhile, here are some of our key AI-related reads from recent days. First up, some informed perspectives on what 2026 could hold when it comes to AI deployments within Indian enterprises:
From Copilots To Autonomous Agents: India’s Sovereign Agentic AI Shift In 2026
Navigating The Next Frontier: Agentic AI In Financial Services
And then we have an excellent piece on how AI is changing data centre business dynamics, and there are clues there on why India’s largest data centre commitments are now led by platform players with scale, execution discipline and backed by strong balance sheets, as opposed to pure-play operators.
Beyond Commissioning: The Hidden Subscriptions Inside The Data Centre Boom
Here are a few others you should read in case you’ve missed any. I found it ironic that while the world is focused on Big American Oil benefiting from President Trump’s moves on Venezuela, Big AI will likely benefit too.
15x Jump in AI References: What IT Management Commentary Reveals About India’s Tech Pivot
Nvidia Debuts New AI Tools For Autonomous Vehicles, Robots
Bengaluru Techie Adds AI Agent To Helmet To Track Traffic Violations
Artificial Intelligence Begins Renewing Prescriptions Without Doctors In Utah
Nvidia CEO Says New Rubin Chips Are On Track, Helping Speed AI
Intel Shows Off New Computers That Are Central To Comeback Bid
AI Video Generation Leads China’s Kuaishou To 84% Stock Surge
Why Trump's Seizing Of Power In Venezuela May Spell Boom For Nvidia, Other AI Majors
AI Vs PCs: Why Computer Market May Likely Shrink By Nearly 10% In 2026
Apple's Restrained AI Strategy Set To Pay Dividends In 2026: Report
China Mulls AI Guardrails: Time Limits, Parental Consent, Suicide Chat Detection
Till next week,
Ivor Soans
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of NDTV Profit or its affiliates. NDTV Profit does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information presented in this article.
