India Building For Rising Domestic Demand, Says Gautam Adani At CII Summit

India is shaping a development model rooted in its own economic realities and rising domestic demand rather than copying the paths taken by global powers such as the US or China, Gautam Adani said on Monday.

Addressing the CII Annual Business Summit 2026, the Adani Group Chairman said the country’s expansion is being powered by growing cities, rising consumption, industrial activity, electric mobility and millions of small businesses seeking to expand operations.

“India’s path will not be America’s or China’s path because we are not building for an abstract future; we are building for a living, rising, demanding India,” Gautam Adani stated.

The Adani Group Chairman noted that India already generates demand for infrastructure and industries across sectors. He said this gives the country a natural advantage.

“India’s advantage is simple. Everything we build will already have demand waiting for it. The task before us is to build the capacity that can keep pace with the demand,” he added.

Speaking about the energy sector, Gautam Adani said India had crossed 500 gigawatts of installed power capacity by March 2026. He added that the country had added 53 per cent of that capacity during the past decade.

According to him, the country is now preparing to expand power generation fourfold to nearly 2,000 gigawatts by 2047.

“This is not a symbolic progress. This is nation-scale execution – growing rapidly, industrialising deeply, digitising massively and decarbonising meaningfully – all at the same time,” the Adani Group Chairman asserted.

Referring to India’s economic expansion, Gautam Adani said the country took 67 years after Independence to become a $2 trillion economy. He added that India achieved the next $2 trillion in only 12 years.

“India is no longer growing through incremental addition. India is growing through compounding acceleration,” the Adani Group Chairman noted, adding that every investment in roads, ports, airports, factories, energy assets and data centres strengthens the next stage of growth.

Gautam Adani further remarked that India could maintain its current pace of growth. He added that the country could then add an economy equivalent to that of Europe every decade.

On artificial intelligence, the Adani Group Chairman said global fears surrounding job losses should not shape India’s outlook.

“I reject this story entirely. India must not import fear from the Western world,” he said while arguing that AI should be used to increase productivity, create employment opportunities and support small businesses.

Gautam Adani drew a parallel with the rise of digital payments. He said many initially viewed UPI only as a payment platform.

The Adani Group Chairman added that the system transformed economic participation for ordinary citizens and small traders.

“It transformed the mobile phone from a communication device into an economic instrument,” the Adani Group Chairman remarked.

Gautam Adani said AI could trigger a similar transformation on a much larger scale. He added that the technology could create entirely new industries, enterprises and markets that are currently unimaginable.

The Adani Group Chairman also warned that AI-driven growth would require massive power and digital infrastructure. He said data centre capacity could reach five gigawatts by 2030.

Gautam Adani added that the figure could expand to nearly 75 gigawatts by 2047, making early preparation essential for India.

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