The forum will convene senior leaders from cloud infrastructure, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, Digital Public Infrastructure, and data platforms, alongside policymakers, regulators, academic experts, and innovators. The objective is to develop an actionable roadmap for India’s next digital decade, aligning industry and government priorities in a unified direction.
India currently stands at a critical inflection point as it evolves into one of the world’s largest digital economies. However, the foundational infrastructure supporting this growth, including cloud computing, artificial intelligence systems, data storage frameworks, and identity platforms, remains significantly concentrated among global technology providers. BDIA has been established to address this structural imbalance and strengthen domestic technological capability.
Positioned at the intersection of national security, economic value creation, and technological self-reliance, BDIA functions as a policy-industry platform focused on strengthening India’s capabilities across critical technology layers, including cloud systems, artificial intelligence infrastructure, compute resources, and data ecosystems. Central to its mission is the principle of Data Sovereignty, described as India’s right to determine how data is collected, stored, governed, and monetised. BDIA has defined this principle as an operational necessity for a digital economy projected to reach one trillion United States dollars by 2030.
Bharat Digital Samvad is designed as an outcome-driven forum rather than a purely deliberative platform. It aims to move beyond panel discussions and deliver structured policy alignment with tangible outputs. The summit will conclude with the release of a comprehensive policy brief intended for the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, and other relevant ministries.
In addition, the forum will propose a Digital Industrial Policy Framework outlining key policy instruments such as taxation mechanisms, procurement preferences, research and development incentives, and market access structures designed to accelerate the growth of India-built digital technologies. It will also present an assessment of India’s dependence on foreign technology systems and outline a structured pathway toward greater digital self-reliance.
Piyush Somani, President of BDIA and Promoter, Chairman and Managing Director of ESDS Software Solution Ltd., stated that India has already established one of the world’s most ambitious digital infrastructures. He emphasized that the next phase must ensure that control, governance, and value creation remain within India. He described Data Sovereignty as an operational imperative rather than a future aspiration and identified Bharat Digital Samvad as a critical alignment point between industry and policy.
Abhishek Bhatt, Secretary General of BDIA, highlighted India’s historical presence in early internet categories, including platforms such as Rediff, Sify, Khoj, and Indiatimes. He noted that while early leadership existed, the absence of a structured Digital Industrial Policy limited the competitiveness of domestic players, allowing global firms to dominate key sectors. He further stated that with the national focus on self-reliance and a new generation of founders prepared to scale, India now has a renewed opportunity to build globally competitive digital platforms. He described Bharat Digital Samvad and BDIA’s launch as a decisive step toward ensuring that opportunity is not missed again.
The launch of Bharat Digital Samvad marks a significant institutional effort to reshape India’s digital infrastructure landscape, positioning sovereign capability, policy alignment, and industrial growth at the centre of the country’s next phase of digital transformation.
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