How Can We Become an $8 Trillion Economy?

While Viksit Bharat 2047 is setting its sights on making India a $30 trillion economy, the Indian tech ecosystem has its own ambitious target: hitting $8 trillion by 2035. So, how’s that going to happen? Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani has the answer.

By Mohit Pandey

At the Arkam Annual Meet 2025, themed The Great Unlock: India in 2035, Nilekani dropped a bold prediction that India could have 1 million startups by 2035. As the crowd erupted in a cheer, Nilekani quickly followed up with, “Just saying. You guys have to make it happen.”

But, How?

Nilekani believes it’s India’s startup ecosystem that will drive the nation’s economic leap to $8 trillion. “When the economy is growing at 8%, startups will grow at 20%, reaching a million startups by 2035.”

A mix of entrepreneurial surge, AI adoption, and India’s digital public infrastructure (DPI) will fuel this transformation as more businesses move into the formal sector with faster digital transactions and a startup-driven economic boom.

Nilekani highlighted the importance of companies like Meesho in reaching this goal. “Most Meesho sellers are selling online for the first time. Most buyers are also shopping online for the first time. Platforms like these will help small businesses tap into massive demand.”

“Small guys have to pay taxes, use GST, and comply with regulations. A mix of push and pull will bring millions of businesses into the formal sector.”

We’ve already seen massive fintech adoption, with UPI leading the way. Nilekani dropped some jaw-dropping numbers:

• PhonePe has 350 million active users
• 48% of all digital payments happen via PhonePe

The AI Generation is Here

DPI is just one piece of the puzzle. AI is the other game-changer. With 380 million Gen Z Indians entering the workforce, the way businesses operate is shifting.?

Nilekani believes: "Half of India’s workforce will be AI-made. These people haven’t seen the world without a phone. They will be the first to embrace AI in everything they do."

Startups using AI-driven automation, predictive analytics, and personalised services will have a major edge. Plus, AI-powered multilingual interfaces will bring even more tier-2 and tier-3 entrepreneurs into the ecosystem.

With the convergence of 1 million startups, DPI, and AI, Nilekani believes India is on the cusp of a historic transformation.

Read the full story here.

AI Bytes

• Operant AI has launched its operations in India to provide real-time security solutions for the country’s rapidly growing AI sector.
• China’s Tsinghua University is joining the AI race by releasing a new open source framework, Chitu, made available under the Apache-2.0 license.
• LTIMindtree has appointed its COO, Nachiket Deshpande, as the president of its AI services division under newly appointed CEO Venu Lambu.
• Baidu launched two new AI models: ERNIE 4.5, a native multimodal model, and ERNIE X1, a deep-thinking reasoning model.

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