The inaugural edition of ImagiNxt 2026 opened in Mumbai with a strong emphasis on how AI, DeepTech, SpaceTech, quantum technologies, and digital infrastructure are expected to shape India’s economic and industrial transformation over the coming decade.
Hosted by Maharashtra Tourism at the Jio World Convention Centre, the event brought together founders, investors, policymakers, enterprise leaders, academia, and emerging technology companies to discuss India’s evolving innovation ecosystem and technology-led growth ambitions.
The opening day featured keynote addresses from Jitendra Singh and Devendra Fadnavis, both of whom highlighted how emerging technologies are becoming central to India’s long-term economic strategy.
A major theme across discussions was the growing role of AI infrastructure and sovereign technology ecosystems. Maharashtra’s AI strategy, outlined during the event, includes the creation of AI Centres of Excellence, AI Innovation Cities, GPU compute infrastructure, startup funds, and incubation ecosystems designed to accelerate AI-led innovation at scale.
From a technology perspective, this reflects a broader shift where states and governments are increasingly treating AI compute infrastructure, startup ecosystems, and digital public infrastructure as strategic economic assets, similar to industrial or physical infrastructure in previous growth cycles.
Devendra Fadnavis highlighted Maharashtra’s plans to create shared GPU infrastructure and AI innovation ecosystems capable of supporting startups, enterprises, and public sector innovation. The state aims to attract over ₹10,000 crore in AI investments and create more than 1.5 lakh AI-related jobs by 2031.
The conference also spotlighted India’s rapidly expanding DeepTech and SpaceTech ecosystem. Jitendra Singh pointed to the growth of India’s space economy, which is projected to expand significantly over the next decade as private participation and startup-led innovation accelerate across aerospace, quantum computing, biotechnology, and nuclear technologies.
The event further highlighted how India is increasingly building mission-led technology ecosystems through initiatives such as the India AI Mission, National Quantum Mission, Nuclear Energy Mission, and BioE3 biotechnology policy. These programmes reflect a broader effort to establish globally competitive capabilities across frontier technology sectors.
Another recurring theme was the convergence of AI, digital governance, and industrial transformation. Discussions explored how technologies such as AI, intelligent automation, advanced analytics, and digital infrastructure are reshaping sectors including manufacturing, defence, governance, enterprise operations, and public services.
The scale of the event itself reflected India’s growing technology ambition, with more than 10,000 attendees, 250+ startups, 100+ investors, and 150+ Indian and global speakers participating across sessions focused on AI, digital infrastructure, media, and entrepreneurship.
According to Deepak Lamba, the event aims to serve as a convergent platform bringing together policymakers, innovators, enterprises, and investors shaping India’s next decade of technology-led growth.
Overall, the opening of ImagiNxt 2026 underscored a broader national transformation underway, where India is increasingly positioning itself not only as a digital economy but as a global hub for AI infrastructure, DeepTech innovation, frontier technologies, and large-scale technology-led industrial growth.