India hasn’t missed AI bus as some foreign media perceive: FM

India has not missed the artificial intelligence (AI) or quantum computing bus; rather, a perception largely shaped by overseas media suggests otherwise, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday.

Speaking at an IIT Madras Alumni Association event, Sitharaman said the perception was partly driven by the absence of a significant number of AI companies listed on the National Stock Exchange or Bombay Stock Exchange. Several Indian AI startups, she noted, had already become unicorns or were close to achieving that status.

Indian startups were generally wary of listing because of the compliance requirements involved, she said, but pointed out that being listed also had significant advantages.

“Just not being in the stock market cannot be an adequate measure to see what’s happening in India. But mind you, that’s the world. We have to address or respond to these narratives too,” she said.