New Delhi, February 17 The history of India's transformation in the 21st century will not begin with silicon chips or software, but with the moment the country made connectivity a fundamental choice, said Minister of State for Telecom Chandrasekhar Pemmasani on Tuesday.
Speaking at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, Pemmasani stated that telecom is no longer just about connecting calls, but about connecting opportunities.
"When historians write about India's 21st-century transformation, they will not begin with silicon chips or software code. They will begin with the moment India made a fundamental choice – connectivity is not a luxury. Connectivity is sovereignty," Pemmasani said.
The minister stated that telecom networks are the foundational layer on which AI is built in India.
"With over 1.2 billion subscribers, our networks carry the data flows that fuel every AI application at scale – preventing downtime through predictive maintenance, optimizing spectrum in real time, and cutting energy use by up to 30 per cent with AI-powered tower management," he said.
Pemmasani said India's journey does not end at 'Digital Bharat' but continues toward 'Intelligent Bharat'.
"But let's be clear: without affordable and reliable connectivity, AI stays locked inside urban centers and research labs," he said.
The minister stated that AI does not live only in distant data centers, but it lives where the action is – close to users and close to decisions.
"Edge computing reduces latency to under 10 milliseconds for critical applications like autonomous vehicles. With data center capacity growing 20 per cent annually, cloud platforms provide India's scalable AI backbone. And telecom networks tie it all together as the intelligent delivery layer," the minister said.
Cellular Operators Association of India Director General SP Kochhar said the telecom sector plays the same role as tracks play for trains, and the country's telecom sector needs to be robust to provide a seamless experience of AI.
He said that the return on investments (ROI) will not come from the foundation, but it will come from the building that is built on top of it.
"The building that is coming up, which is visible, is AI, AI application. These applications will be cross -cutting across all sectors. You see in the exhibition, whether it is agriculture, medicine, whatever you name the sector, even your own sector, AI is playing a part," Kochhar said.