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Forward-thinking government for citizen-first services
Highlights
- With India making strides on the digital highway, it is crucial that the data we generate with each UPI transaction, each social media post, each Google search, stays within the sovereign boundaries of our country.
- Why? Because data today is currency, and whoever manages it, wields power and influence in cyberspace. Ensuring it stays within the national boundaries would help us stay insulated from geopolitical disturbances and cyber-risks.
- It is therefore imperative for government agencies to use digital platforms that uphold the principles of sovereignty, security, and sustainability in order to ensure adaptability and resilience in the delivery of citizen services.
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A strategic necessity
In an era where data is the new currency, India’s push for sovereign digital solutions and platforms is not just a policy choice but a strategic necessity.
It is imperative upon India to invest in research, development, and partnerships to reduce dependence on foreign digital ecosystems.
Picture this: Every time an Indian farmer checks crop prices on his phone, a small piece of data quietly travels to a foreign server. When a student in Mumbai uses an educational app, her learning patterns become training material for someone else's artificial intelligence (AI) engine. Every minute, millions of Indians tap, swipe, and connect—making payments, searching for answers, sending messages, and exploring things – a machine somewhere across the globe is ‘learning’ to better itself.
Behind these simple actions, an invisible current carries our data far beyond India’s borders, processed and stored on distant shores.
The data problem
With each digital interaction, a quiet exodus unfolds—our ideas, habits, and aspirations slipping into the hands of others.
The impact is subtle, almost silent, but profound: the knowledge and value created by an average, unsuspecting, everyday Indian rarely stays at home. Instead, it becomes a resource for others to use, shape, and profit from, often without our say. India isn't just the world's second-largest internet market; we're becoming its biggest data farm. With over 960 million internet users as per the latest TRAI numbers, one can only imagine the amount of data produced every second across India's digital landscape. Yet 90% of this data gets processed through foreign-owned, controlled, or managed infrastructure
India generates a massive 20% of the world’s data, yet its AI ecosystem relies heavily on solutions developed overseas. Sensitive Indian healthcare, legal, and financial information is fed into external AI systems without any assurance of mutual benefit. While Indian data makes up a sizeable percentage of the datasets used to train major AI platforms globally, the country has no authority over how this data is utilized.
Foreign tech giants and platforms often store and process Indian user data in servers located outside the country. This raises concerns about surveillance, unauthorized access, and misuse of sensitive information. For instance, Aadhaar data, UPI transactions, and health records linked to the GoI’s Ayushman Bharat programme are processed on foreign servers in some cases, raising privacy concerns. Over 70% of Indian startups rely on foreign cloud providers, making them vulnerable to data breaches and geopolitical disruptions.
Taking this thought further, AI is no longer just about innovation—it’s a geopolitical power struggle. And in this war, data is the weapon.
The control over data
Digital sovereignty is not just about technology; it is about control, security, self-determination, and the power of choosing where our digital future is built.
India’s digital future hinges on who controls its data. With strong policies, indigenous tech development, and public-private collaboration, India can achieve true digital sovereignty—ensuring that our data fuels our growth, not that of foreign corporations.
As India positions itself as a global digital leader, ensuring that its data remains within its sovereign boundaries will be the cornerstone of its technological and economic future.
Data is the backbone of digital sovereignty:
- Data control is a proxy for power: If Indian user data is stored and processed by foreign entities, it can be weaponized for economic or political influence.
- Data localization translates to national security: Keeping data within India ensures compliance with local laws and prevents foreign surveillance.
- Data-driven governance is non-negotiable: From Aadhaar-linked welfare schemes to real-time traffic management, India’s digital public infrastructure (DPI) relies on secure, sovereign data handling.
- Data monetization for public good: Instead of letting global corporations profit from user data generated within the country, sovereign tech systems allow India to harness data for societal benefits (e.g., healthcare analytics, agricultural insights, and more).
Let us build for India
The solution isn't in rejecting global tech—it is about balancing it with homegrown alternatives and adding an India-centric layer to the construct.
When India builds for India, we don't just solve our problems—we create global benchmarks. The UPI revolution (from zero to a whopping 10 million daily transactions in just seven years) and the Aadhaar effect (nearly 1.3 billion identities digitally verified) are some shining examples.
Sovereign digital infrastructure ensures that Indian data remains within national borders, governed by local laws like the Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDPA), 2023. If India does not build sovereign cloud and data infrastructure, foreign corporations will continue to monetize Indian data while exposing it to external surveillance and data theft and breaches.
Achieving digital independence requires India to establish its own robust technological infrastructure—cloud services that rival international providers, semiconductor manufacturing within the country, powerful domestically produced servers, and data centers driven by sustainable energy sources.
The good news is that with projects like Tata's chip plant, C-DACs Rudra Servers, MeitY’s AI Mission, India Stack, and an increasing number of examples from the startup world, we are already a few important strides into this journey.
India's digital future must be built on Indian solutions. While global partnerships have value, over-reliance on foreign tech comes with economic costs with billions flowing overseas, security risks due to data vulnerability, lost potential with missed innovation opportunities.
