As global supply chains fracture, AI reshapes productivity, and technology becomes a core instrument of national power, India is making an ambitious push to redefine its role in the world economy from IT services provider to deep tech superpower.
In the season 2 premiere of TechSurge, host Sriram Viswanathan brings together three defining perspectives to examine how India is positioned to become a global leader in frontier technologies, and what must go right for that vision to succeed.
The episode begins with S. Krishnan, Secretary at India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, who outlines how India is treating deep tech as national infrastructure. From the India Semiconductor Mission and AI compute investments to the new RDI (Research, Development & Innovation) framework, Krishnan explains how long-horizon industrial policy is being used to derisk private capital, strengthen domestic design and manufacturing, and accelerate commercialization.
Next, former G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant places India’s technology ambitions in a global context. As post-WWII institutions weaken and supply chains are redrawn, Amitabh argues that India’s decade of structural reforms, digital public infrastructure, and global partnerships has created a historic opening, if India can sustain free enterprise, execution discipline, and state-level reform.
Finally, T.K. Kurien, CEO and Managing Partner of Premji Inves, brings the investor and operator lens. Kurien explores why India has excelled at services and business-model innovation but lagged in core technology creation and what it will take to build globally dominant deep tech companies. From patient capital and university-led innovation to focused national bets in AI applications, biotech, and semiconductors, he outlines the path from ambition to execution.
Across policy, geopolitics, and capital, one message is clear: India’s deep tech future will not be decided by vision alone but by alignment between government direction, private risk-taking, and long-term discipline.
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Episode Links
India Semiconductor Mission (MeitY): https://www.meity.gov.in/
India AI Mission & AI Kosh: https://indiaai.gov.in/
National Research Foundation & RDI Scheme: https://anrf.gov.in/
Premji Invest: https://www.premjiinvest.com/
Timestamps
00:00 India’s Deep Tech Inflection Point
02:05 Industrial Policy as National Infrastructure
06:52 Why Government Must Catalyze Product Innovation Beyond IT Services
09:13 Building the Ecosystem: Talent, Research, Diaspora Return & Startup Scale
13:10 India Semiconductor Mission (ISM): What’s Different This Time
24:56 ISM 2.0 Plans: Fixing Design Incentives & Unlocking Risk Capital
27:15 IndiaAI Mission Explained: Compute, Data (AI Kosh) & Model Development
33:09 Global Order Shifts: Supply Chains, Tech Power & Introducing Amitabh Kant
41:19 Alliances That Matter: China, Europe/Japan Partnerships & Why the US Is Key
54:11 How Government Can Take Risk: Fund-of-Funds, R&D Incentives, and Grand Challenges
57:07 Dismantle Red Tape, Build World-Class Infrastructure,
01:00:57 Why Premji Invest Focused on Growth Stage (and What Changed for Early Stage)
01:03:16 India vs US Investing: Where Returns Come From and Avoiding Valuation Hype
01:05:28 Building India’s Startup Ecosystem: Capital, Patience, and Core Tech vs Business Models
01:13:41 Three Sectors to Bet On: AI Software/Agents, Biotech Breakthroughs, and Pragmatic Semiconductors
South Africa