India Mentions AI Eleven Times in Budget

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman mentioned "Artificial Intelligence" eleven times in the Union Budget 2026 speech on February 1, 2026, the highest frequency recorded in any Indian budget. Her references outlined applications including governance improvements, the new Bharat-VISTAAR multilingual tool, AgriStack integration, healthcare assistive-device R&D, customs imaging, education curriculum modules, and workforce upskilling initiatives. The speech reinforces elevated government prioritization of AI across national programs.