Fractal CEO: India's Rs 10,000 crore AI mission fund is comparable to OpenAI's weekend expenses

Srikanth Velamakanni, founder of Fractal Analytics, said that India’s ₹10,000 crore AI mission is too small compared to global companies like OpenAI. He said this amount is equal to what a company like OpenAI might spend in just one weekend.

He spoke at the ET AI Awards 2025 during a panel discussion.

Velamakanni said India needs bigger goals in artificial intelligence (AI). He suggested creating an “India Model” for AI, similar to successful projects like Aadhaar and UPI. He said this model should serve all 1.4 billion people in India. The large amount of data collected could help India move faster toward advanced AI systems like Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).

The panel also included:

• Sharad Sanghi, founder and CEO of Neysa

• Naveen Tewari, cofounder and CEO of InMobi and Glance

The discussion focused on whether AI is overhyped or a bubble.

Velamakanni said AI is not overhyped. He believes AI is a powerful technology that will change everything and is actually “underhyped.”

Naveen Tewari agreed that AI is not a bubble. However, he said there is confusion about its future impact. He explained that AI is bringing very fast and unpredictable changes. He also said companies must do more than just automate work — they need to completely change how they use AI.

Sharad Sanghi said demand for AI infrastructure is increasing quickly. He said there is not enough data centre space to meet AI needs. Many new data centres are being built with special liquid cooling systems because AI systems require much more power than traditional systems.

Overall, the panel agreed that AI is not a bubble and will play a very big role in the future.