Speaking to industry leaders and government officials on Wednesday, Sanjay Jaju – who serves as Chief Secretary and Special Chief Secretary for ITE&C and the Industries & Commerce Departments – said Telangana will leverage its existing IT and Global Capability Centre (GCC) strengths to build a globally competitive AI sector.
The state currently records roughly Rs 3.13 lakh crore in IT exports, employs close to one million IT professionals and hosts 515 GCCs that together provide jobs for about three lakh people, according to Jaju.
To support AI product development, the government is targeting five gigawatts of data‑centre capacity and will launch the Telangana Data Exchange, which will offer sovereign AI‑grade computing, AI‑ready datasets, subsidised GPU access and sandbox tools for innovators.
Telangana’s AI innovation entity, the Institute for Cognitive and Artificial Networks (ICAN), has been tasked with positioning the state among the world’s top 20 AI hubs by 2035, a goal Jaju said will be pursued through initiatives such as the proposed AI City at Bharat Future City and collaborations with the Young India Skills University.
Joint Secretary (ITE&C) Anudeep Durishetty highlighted the need to translate individual productivity gains into measurable business outcomes, pointing to human coordination, GCC‑led product development and sectoral strengths in aerospace, defence and life sciences as key opportunities.
CII Telangana chairman M. Goutham Reddy called for a responsible, reliable and human‑centric approach to AI, emphasizing stronger skill development and tighter intellectual‑property protection as essential for sustainable growth.
The summit brought together senior executives from Jio Platforms, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, N Labs AI, the Indian Digital Gaming Society and other firms to discuss digital transformation, talent pipelines and responsible AI, underscoring Telangana’s ambition to become a future‑ready AI ecosystem.