Years ago, ‘National Power’ was measured in terms of land, labour, and raw materials for centuries. But in the 20th Century, the definition changed, and it began to encompass industrial capacity, energy security, and military reach. Today, the calculus of power has quietly shifted, and a nation’s real strategic depth is increasingly determined by its command over all the technical aspects, including artificial intelligence, semiconductor supply chains, data ecosystems, and digital infrastructure. Why? Because being efficient in technology is not just ‘growth’, it has become the architecture of sovereignty itself. It is not just ‘innovation’ that can be outsourced, imported, or borrowed anymore. The countries that understand this, and the distinction between innovation and strategy, are redesigning their states around technology by embedding it into governance, defence planning, industrial policy, and diplomacy.
How did this sudden shift happen? The post-pandemic decade uncovered a critical susceptibility in the global system: dependence. Supply chain disruptions, semiconductor shortages, cyberattacks, and data weaponisation exposed that digital infrastructure is as strategic as ports or oil pipelines. AI models now shape battlefield intelligence, financial systems, climate modelling, and political communication. Semiconductor chips are the foundation of everything from missiles to medical devices. Data has become the most valuable resource in the modern economy, and one of the most contested.
As a result, technology policy has moved from ministries of IT to the highest levels of national strategy. The United States’ CHIPS Act, China’s self-reliance drive, and Europe’s digital sovereignty agenda – all reflect that technological capability defines geopolitical agency. It is within this global reordering that India’s approach stands out as structurally ambitious, as it is no longer confined to software exports or start-up valuations, and is now also about data centres, chips, energy, talent, and governance being built at a national scale.
Experiencing one of the fastest expansions of digital infrastructure, it is estimated thatIndia’s investments in data centres will approach $100 billion over a decade, driven by AI workloads, cloud migration, and data localisation requirements. These facilities are not merely commercial assets; they are strategic nodes that anchor data sovereignty, cyber resilience, and economic continuity. The scale of electricity demand alone is forcing long-term planning around grids, renewables, and urban infrastructure, demonstrating that digital capacity is now embedded in national planning.
Equally noteworthy is India’s push into the semiconductor industry. For decades, India remained at the periphery of chip manufacturing despite being a design powerhouse. That gap is now being consciously closed as multiple fabrication and packaging units have been approved, backed by state support and global partnerships. The goal is not autarky, but calculated insulation, ensuring that India is never again a captive to global supply shocks in a sector that underpins defence, mobility, healthcare, and AI.
Further, unlike smaller tech hubs or authoritarian models of digital control, India is building technological capacity for a population of over 1.4 billion while upholding an open digital public infrastructure. Platforms such as Aadhaar, UPI, and the expanding India Stack reveal how digital systems can concurrently enable inclusion, efficiency, and innovation. This creates a domestic market large enough to sustain indigenous AI models, cloud platforms, and semiconductor demand – a luxury few nations possess.
At the same time, Central Asia offers an instructive contrast. Historically valued for geography and energy, the region is now repositioning itself through digital ambition. Kazakhstan, in particular, has made digital governance a cornerstone of state legitimacy, with the vast majority of public services delivered electronically. It is investing in AI infrastructure, supercomputing capacity, and human capital development, aiming to emerge as a Eurasian digital transit hub between East and West. Uzbekistan is utilising regulatory incentives and tax-free zones to attract AI and data centre investments, gesturing an understanding that technology can accelerate economic divergence more rapidly than outdated industrial pathways. These initiatives are purposefully astute, but they remain controlled by market size, capital depth, and technological ecosystems that are still in formation.
This is where India’s advantage becomes structural rather than tactical. While Central Asian states are adopting technology to modernise, India is producing and scaling it as a systemic capability. India’s talent base, domestic demand, and institutional frameworks enable it to transition from a user to a shaper of technology standards.
While many countries still treat technology as a sectoral success story rather than a foundation of power, India knows why data and AI matter. The convergence of AI, chips, and data infrastructure represents a new strategic trinity, as AI without data is hollow, data without infrastructure is inert, and infrastructure without chips is dependent. Nations that control all three gain autonomy over innovation cycles, security frameworks, and economic growth trajectories.
India’s recognition of this convergence is evident in how its policies interlock – semiconductor incentives are aligned with electronics manufacturing, data localisation is linked to cloud expansion, and AI strategies are tied to education and research institutions. This coherence is the hallmark of strategic thinking.
In the coming year, the global hierarchy of power will be rewritten not through conquest, but through computation. The ability to process information, fabricate intelligence, and secure digital infrastructure now will determine a nation’s capacity to influence outcomes beyond its borders.
Within this scenario, India’s trajectory suggests a quiet but consequential shift: from being a participant in the global digital economy to becoming one of its architects. Its investments in AI, chips, and infrastructure are not about catching up but about shaping the rules of the next technological era. The world’s digital awakening underscores the universality of this truth: in the modern world, technology is no longer merely an instrument of policy, but a form of power itself. And among emerging powers, India is one of the few building it with scale, intent, and democratic legitimacy.
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