Archive · 6 Oct 2026
World Bank Urges India to Scale Practical AI Across Economy
The World Bank says India should help more businesses and workers use AI tools that already exist.
It suggests adapting open-source AI to work well for local needs.
India can also build advanced AI models, but should choose those investments carefully because they need many resources.
Some AI projects in India already help with learning, farming, healthcare and language access.
The World Bank says many of these projects need to reach more people and places.
It estimates that AI could help about 14% of Indian workers do their jobs more productively.
AI might also help the economy become more productive over the next ten years.
The size of that benefit will depend on how widely AI is used and what other investments are made.
World Bank economist Vincent Belinga advised India to expand the use of existing AI applications and adapt open-source tools to local needs.
Belinga said India should prioritize broad AI adoption among firms and workers, which remains limited despite increasing.
The World Bank highlighted applications including Bhashini, AI4Bharat, DIKSHA, KATHIR, the PM-KISAN chatbot and AI-assisted tuberculosis screening.
The World Bank estimates that 14% of Indian workers are in jobs where AI could complement their work.
AI could add 0.1–0.8 percentage points to annual labour productivity growth over the next decade, depending on deployment and complementary investments.
- Who
- Vincent Belinga, a senior economist at the World Bank, discussed recommendations for India.
- What
- The World Bank recommends expanding practical AI use, adapting open-source tools and investing selectively in frontier AI.
- When
- October 6; the article does not specify a year.
- Where
- India.
- Why
- To spread AI-related productivity gains across the economy while accounting for the resources required to develop frontier models.
- World Bank AI approach
- Adoption, adaptation and frontier development.
- Workers potentially complemented by AI
- An estimated 14% of Indian workers.
- Potential productivity effect
- AI could add 0.1–0.8 percentage points to annual labour productivity growth over the next decade.
- Factors affecting the estimate
- The pace of AI deployment and complementary investments.
- Examples cited
- Bhashini and AI4Bharat for multilingual access; DIKSHA for personalised learning; KATHIR and the PM-KISAN chatbot for agriculture; and AI-assisted tuberculosis screening from chest X-rays.
- Suggested focus
- Expand AI applications across sectors, including education, healthcare, agriculture, finance and IT.