New Research Shows Open Source Is Accelerating India’s AI Market Growth and Social Impact

4 hours ago

Takeaways

The report highlights that India’s AI market could grow nearly fivefold to $32 billion by 2031, driven by open source innovation, strong startup momentum, and global demand for Indian AI talent.
India’s approach to AI emphasizes innovation-led growth, workforce readiness, and digital public infrastructure, offering a model for emerging economies globally.
Pro-innovation policies and public-private collaboration are helping accelerate adoption while expanding access to skills, tools, and opportunity.
Open source technologies are playing a central role in how India is scaling AI adoption across its economy and society.

New research, “AI for Economic and Social Good in India: Scaling Inclusive Growth for Entrepreneurs, Creators, and Local Economies,” released today by the Linux Foundation Research, in partnership with Meta, highlights how open source innovation, workforce development, and digital public infrastructure are shaping India’s rapidly expanding AI ecosystem and enabling inclusive economic and social impact.

Nearly 70 percent of India’s population lives in rural areas, where access to infrastructure and essential services remains uneven. AI is beginning to help bridge these gaps. India’s AI market is projected to grow from $6 billion in 2024 to nearly $32 billion by 2031, supported by a large and rapidly expanding open source ecosystem.

From medical chatbots that provide guidance to people unable to reach a clinic, to AI-enabled tools from startups such as CropIn that support farmers with crop monitoring and weather and disease prediction, AI is extending access to critical services, even in low-connectivity environments. These examples highlight how AI can be adapted to local contexts and deployed at scale, while coordinated investments in startups and large public initiatives continue to expand access across the country.

India is home to more than 200,000 startups and ranks among the leading global markets for newly funded AI companies. Open technologies are lowering barriers to entry for startups and small businesses, enabling developers to build and customize AI solutions while supporting responsible adoption at scale.

“India is already at the forefront of AI adoption, with its vibrant startup ecosystem creating innovative solutions tailored to the country’s unique needs,”

“Open source AI coupled with pro-innovation regulation can supercharge India’s AI ambitions – empowering local talent to build, adapt, and scale technologies not just for India, but for the world.” – Rob Sherman, Vice President of Policy at Meta.

India’s experience reflects a broader policy insight: AI adoption in emerging economies depends not only on capital investment, but also on regulatory approaches that encourage innovation, collaboration, and real-world deployment. The alignment of digital public infrastructure, startup-led innovation, and technical talent has positioned India to extend the benefits of AI more quickly and equitably.

Open Source and Workforce Readiness

The research finds open source plays a foundational role in India’s AI ecosystem, with a majority of startups relying on open technologies to build, customize, and deploy AI solutions. This supports cost-effective innovation and allows developers to tailor tools to local languages, sectors, and connectivity conditions.
India also stands out globally for its rapid AI hiring growth, positioning its workforce to participate meaningfully in the global AI transition. Continued investment in reskilling, applied AI training, and accessible platforms will be critical as automation reshapes job roles across industries.

Scaling AI for Social and Economic Impact

Beyond economic growth, the report highlights AI’s growing role in addressing structural challenges. Open source models are enabling solutions that improve access to justice, support smallholder farmers, enhance clinical decision-making, and expand access to digital services for communities historically excluded by language or geography.
These use cases demonstrate how combining startup-led innovation with public-sector initiatives can accelerate progress while ensuring AI systems remain locally relevant and widely accessible.

A Model for Emerging Economies

The findings place India’s AI adoption in a global context, offering lessons for other countries across the Global South. Sustained impact, the research notes, will depend on policies that expand access to infrastructure and compute, encourage open ecosystems, and ensure productivity gains translate into broad-based growth.
As AI adoption accelerates globally, India’s approach illustrates how smart policy choices, open innovation, and public-private collaboration can help countries harness AI in ways that support people, communities, and long-term development.