# India can commoditise AI as next digital public infrastructure 2026-08-08T16:06:56+00:00 | Technology | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet India can make artificial intelligence the next free public utility, following the model of Aadhaar, UPI and cheap data, The Hindu argues. The country’s distinct digital public infrastructure (DPI), identity, payments and data portability, now handles 20 billion UPI transactions a month and enrolled 1.4 billion people through Aadhaar. Between 2016 and 2019, the cost of a gigabyte fell from about $4 to under 30 cents, bringing 500 million Indians online. The newspaper calls this a ‘civilisational’ shift and says the next step is to commoditise AI as a publicly accessible rail, replicating the same interoperable, low-cost playbook. ## Coverage - thehindu.com Tags: Aadhaar, Artificial intelligence, data commoditisation, digital public infrastructure, India, UPI Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/india-can-commoditise-ai-as-next-digital-public-infrastructure/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/india-can-commoditise-ai-as-next-digital-public-infrastructure/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.