Rewind 2024: India's key tech policies and initiatives

In 2024, the Indian government introduced a slew of technology policies and schemes aimed at positioning the country as a hub for innovation and a global leader. These schemes target emerging technologies, to create an ecosystem that supports startups, attracts investments, and builds robust infrastructure.

This article provides a comprehensive overview of key tech policies and schemes announced in 2024, highlighting their objectives and implications for India's technological landscape.

Cabinet approves IndiaAI mission with ₹10,000 cr outlay

In March, the Union Cabinet approved the ₹10,372 crore India AI Mission to strengthen the country’s artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem. Implemented by the IndiaAI Division under Digital India Corporation, the mission aims to democratise computing access, enhance data quality, foster innovation, support startups, and promote ethical AI for inclusive growth.

Key features include a scalable AI infrastructure with over 10,000 GPUs, developed through a public-private partnership, and an AI marketplace offering AI-as-a-service and pre-trained models to support startups and researchers.

In August, MeitY, through IndiaAI Independent Business Division (IBD), published a Request for Empanelment (RFE) inviting applications for the empanelment of agencies to provide AI computing and Cloud Services. This initiative aims to make available 10,000 GPUs to support India's AI mission, benefiting startups, researchers, students, and academicians. Companies such as Yotta Data Services, E2E Networks, Sify Digital Services, and Jio Platforms were reported to be some of the bidders.

Blockchain-as-a-service by MeitY

In September, MeitY launched a blockchain technology stack. Called Vishvasya, this stack offers blockchain-as-a-service (BaaS) supporting various blockchain applications through geographically distributed infrastructure at NIC Data centers in Bhubaneswar, Pune, and Hyderabad. The National Blockchain Framework technology stack is built with Distributed Infrastructure, Core Framework functionality, Smart Contracts & API Gateway, Security, Privacy & Interoperability and Applications development offering BaaS. 

NBF will be leveraged to develop an extensible framework with the blockchain technology stack, addressing the challenges of the talent gap, vendor lock-in, and research challenges related to security, interoperability, and performance.

State governments double down on GCC-friendly measures

Global capability centers (GCC) remained an area of high growth throughout the year. Currently, India is reported to have 1,700 GCCs which have emerged as hubs of innovation and employment. To keep the momentum on, several state and central governments announced several schemes and measures directed at GCCs.

For instance, the Karnataka government launched GCC Policy 2024-2029. It aims to strengthen the state’s position as a leading hub for GCCs by attracting 500 new centers, generating $50 billion in economic output, and creating 350,000 jobs by 2029. Notably, the state capital Bengaluru has the largest number of GCCs in the country right now. 

Uttar Pradesh, the largest state in India in terms of population also announced GCC Policy 2024. This policy is targeting to achieve over 1,000 GCCs and 500,000 jobs, offering fiscal incentives such as 100 percent stamp duty exemptions and payroll subsidies. The policy will be implemented by Invest UP, which will establish a Policy Implementation Unit (PIU) to oversee execution.

Apart from these two states, Maharashtra is reported to be actively developing a dedicated policy to enhance its appeal as a prime destination for multinational corporations establishing GCCs.

Four new facilities approved under ISM

The government launched the ambitious India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) in 2021 with an outlay of ₹76,000 crore in 2021. This year marked an initial step towards realising the aim of the mission. The government approved a total of four new semiconductor facilities under ISM in 2024. 

In February, the Union Cabinet approved the establishment of three new semiconductor units. To be built at a cumulative investment of ₹1.26 lakh crore (or over $15 billion), all three units are slated to start construction in the next 100 days. Two of these units will be in Gujarat and one in Assam.

These three units are expected to generate direct employment of 20,000 advanced technology jobs and 60,000 indirect jobs — benefitting automotive, electronics manufacturing, telecom manufacturing, industrial manufacturing, and other semiconductor-consuming industries.

The fourth facility by Kaynes Semiconductor was approved by the Cabinet in September. The company plans to set up an assembly, testing, marking, and packaging (ATMP) unit in Sanand, Gujarat with an investment of ₹3,300 crore. The capacity of this unit will be 60 lakh chips per day.