The AI Five-Day Impact Summit kicked-off on Monday 16 February at Delhi’s Bharat Mandapam. It enters its second-day on 17 February a day following its inauguration of the expo with 600 startups and 13 country pavillions on 16 by
PM Modi.
PM Modi on the first day interacted with startups at the expo, with a focus on highlighting India’s role as an AI hub. Heavy attendance, logistical delays and traffic snarls were witnessed.
Union health minister JP Nadda launched two key initiatives – Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare for India (SAHI) and the Benchmarking Open Data Platform for Health AI (BODH) on Tuesday.
Several world leaders and delegates and attendees from over 100 countries have signed up to participate in the AI Impact Summit 2026. Twenty prime ministers or presidents are at the summit, including President Emmanuel Macron of France, Pedro Sanchez Perez-Castejon of Spain, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, Greece’s Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The Ministry of External Affairs stated that the summit is anchored in three ‘Sutras’ – ‘People, Planet and Progress’ – which articulate India’s framework for international cooperation in the field of Artificial Intelligence. The event aims to bring together global leaders, policymakers, innovators, and subject-matter experts from across the world to deliberate on the future direction of Artificial Intelligence.
NDTV will host an AI Summit on February 18.
SAHI is a national guidance framework aimed at enabling the safe, ethical, evidence-based, and inclusive adoption of Artificial Intelligence across India’s healthcare ecosystem. It aims to provide strategic direction for governance, data stewardship, validation, deployment, and monitoring of AI solutions, while supporting States and institutions in the responsible adoption of AI solutions aligned with public health priorities.
BODH, developed by the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur in collaboration with the National Health Authority, is a privacy-preserving benchmarking platform that enables rigorous evaluation of AI models using diverse, real-world health data without sharing underlying datasets.
As a digital public good under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, it is designed to strengthen trust, transparency, and quality assurance in the deployment of Health AI.
A quadruped machine that can navigate rubble, climb stairs, and diagnose mechanical failures without human intervention is the centre of attention at the India AI Summit.
This robot, developed for industrial “Physical AI” by Tata Consultancy Services, is designed to operate in industrial environments such as construction sites, warehouses, manufacturing plants and distribution centres.
Prime Minister Modi on Tuesday stressed the use of science and technology for public interest as the AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi enters its second day.
“Intelligence, rationality and decision-making make science and technology useful to the masses. The India AI Impact Summit aims to see how AI can be used in public interest,” he wrote in a post in Hindi.
What Is On The AI Summit Menu? Dhingri Kachru To Sepu Wadi, Full List From Taj Palace Kitchen
Taj Palace, New Delhi, executive Chef Nitin Mathur’s curated menu uses brass utensils, stone-ground chutneys, and spices from Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir. Here is a snapshot of the special menu:
Dhingri Kachru
Sepu Wadi
Kala Moti Gucchi Pulao
Siyal Katlu
Kathal Baingan Bharta
Bhunnu Murg
Gola Paratha
Malera Roti
Badana Pearls
The India AI Impact Summit 2026 in Delhi from Monday to Friday will be packed with activities, for which the planners have made elaborate arrangements for efficiency and maximum security.
Authorities, including the Delhi Police, are using AI-assisted systems. More than 10,000 personnel will be deployed. The entire event area has been divided into 10 zones and 22 sectors.
News Edit KV Raman
