India: The Next Tech Global Superpower?

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. If you enjoy this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Sign up for our newsletter at techsurgepodcast.com for updates on upcoming TechSurge Live Summits and future Season 2 episodes. 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