Are Indian markets ready for AI?

HOw a great deal of the BSE’s securities industry capitalisation tin be attributed to unreal intelligence agency (AI)? Less than 1%, says Dr. Vikas Singh, adjunct professor at the Indian Institute of Public Administration, Delhi. To be sure, there isn’t a formal classification of an “AI sector” in the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) or National Stock Exchange (NSE), and fewer than 15 listed companies have identifiable AI practices or revenue segments. Since these segments aren’t always disaggregated in financial statements, it makes it difficult to estimate AI’s direct contribution to their revenue or profits.While “ AI contribution is less visible,” it is “ potentially more systemic — especially in automation-heavy sectors such as finance, retail logistics, and telecom,” said Dr. Singh. There’s no doubt that India will increasingly spend more on AI. According to the 2025 Technology and Innovation Report issued by the UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), India ranked 36th out of 170 nations on a global index that measures a country’s readiness for frontier technologies, with approx. $1.4 billion of private investment in AI, which is an improvement from last year. That position is not very different from the country’s rank in the Global Innovation Index, which is now at 38th (in 2025), up from 48th in 2020.Speaking at the Startup Conclave and Exhibition 2025 in Gandhinagar (Gujarat) on September 23, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said: “Within the next three years, India will rank among the top ten countries in the Global Innovation Index and, in the coming years, [India] will lead global innovation.” That’s imperative if India wants to grow its economy, explains Siddharth Sureka, the chief AI officer of Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd. “AI is already widely adopted in the Western markets, specifically in the United States. With our quest of becoming the 3rd largest economy in the world, we’ll have to be adopting AI sooner than later.”Companies are busy understanding how they can use AI, he added. “Visions and strategies for enabling AI are being formulated in the top organisations, like the ones in the NIFTY 100. It’ll take 2-3 years for the implementation of AI and for realising significant impact in the organisations.” Every company will adopt AI, Sureka said, first for “driving productivity,” and then for “leveraging it for generating revenue and growth.”But it won’t happen without proper support, Dr. Singh pointed out. Three things, according to him, are important for AI development: geographic concentration, regulatory support, and capital flow. “Without these, AI development is likely to remain confined to narrow applications.” Inadequate coordination between research institutions, startups, and large firms is the chief reason that hinders AI development today in India.And “while partnerships with global AI leaders can accelerate AI development in India, this may cause reliance on foreign infrastructure and frameworks, raising concerns about technological dependence and data sovereignty,” Dr. Singh added. The answer could be parallel “indigenous capability-building” and “regulatory frameworks,” according to him.These findings raise an important question: do businesses and markets in India approach up-and-coming AI businesses with caution, or are they readily invested in AI? “In the Indian stock market, AI is largely seen as an opportunity that comes with compliance, ethical, and competitive risks,” said Vijayakumar Vellaiyan, founder and CEO of Zebu Share and Wealth Management Pvt Ltd, a stock broking firm. For his business itself, “ it’s an opportunity in the areas of customer experience, data analytics, and algorith