The Union cabinet approved the India AI Mission in March 2024, with a budget outlay of Rs 10,371.92 crore over five years. A NITI Aayog report estimates that AI could add between $500 and 600 billion to India’s GDP by 2035. Job Crisi s or Sustainable Growth? What the Rapid AI Adoption in India Signifies - The Wire
Our government, like governments around the world, paints a rosy picture of our AI-powered future. Take, for example, NITI Aayog’s report, AI for Inclusive Societal Development (October 2025). It highlights how AI-driven tools can boost productivity and resilience for millions who form the backbone of India’s economy. The report also stresses that technology can bridge deep social and economic divides, ensuring that the benefits of AI reach every citizen.
The growth and expansion of AI is dependent on data centres which store vast amounts of data. The Union Budget 2026-27 provides for a 20-year tax holiday for foreign data companies using local data centres and exempts taxes until 2047 to attract firms like Google and Microsoft.
Data centres consume unfathomable amounts of energy, labour and natural resources. For example, a single AI query can consume up to ten times more power than a basic online search, and training a large language model can use over 1,000 megawatt-hours of electricity, roughly equal to the consumption of several hundred Indian households.
Experience in other parts of the world shows that when data centres are located in or near agricultural regions with overexploited aquifers, directly competing with farming for groundwater, water depletion adversely impacts agriculture.
Data centres in India have already been affecting the environment. Cooling systems in large data centres rely on water-based technology, yet over 80% of the facilities today are located in water-scarce states such as Maharashtra, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu.
In Bengaluru, data centres reportedly consume nearly eight million litres of water each day, even as the city faces extreme water shortages.
09/02/2026
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being hailed as a saviour technology, but the drama is nail-biting. Will the huge investments pay off, or will AI go bust? AI is being hailed as transformational – according to JP MorganChase CEO Jamie Dimon, it will change the world like electricity did. But a strange quiet attends the all-important question of AI’s revenue model. Is advertising going to be adopted? The implications are enormous but the silence continues. https://thewire.in/tech/the-drama-around-ai-will-it-go-bust-or-will-the-investments-pay-off
by Arvind Rajagopal
11/12/2025
Not Digital India, We are Becoming a Digital Colony https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-vOwJbjEwo | Big Tech | Cracknomics Ep 47
The Wire Jun 14, 2025
In a world obsessed with AI, apps, and all things digital, it's easy to believe we're moving toward a smarter, more efficient future. From digital payments to online learning, the internet has transformed how we live, work, and communicate. But beneath the surface of this digital utopia lies a more unsettling truth, a new form of global digital colonization. While we celebrate digital advancements, basic necessities like clean water, good roads, reliable healthcare, and employment remain out of reach for many. Yet our data—every click, scroll, and search—is constantly being harvested and stored in the servers of powerful corporations, often based in the West. “Data is the new oil,” they say, and our digital footprints are the fuel. In this episode of #Cracknomics, we explore how, in the name of progress, we may be surrendering control over our lives to invisible systems and distant entities. Is the digital revolution truly empowering us—or simply creating new masters?