India has opened a tech city in Gujarat with the aim of increasing jobs in technology over the next two decades, while at the same time global investors continue to exit.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday inaugurated the Tech City for Million Minds in Ahmedabad. The site currently covers approximately 65 acres but is planned to grow to over 400 acres. The $1.5 billion site would create 70,000 jobs and attract global technology companies and other companies to Ahmedabad.
During the opening Shah Hint Gujarat’s next steps. Amit said the state’s performance so far has been good in manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, ports and green energy.
However, it now requires tech parks and hubs to compete with Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Gurugram. He also added that young people need training in robotics, quantum computing, semiconductors, cybersecurity and space technology.
The first phase of the site covers approximately 1.3 million square feet, with $131 million already spent. Shekhar Patel of GHL and CREDAI said that about 800,000 square feet has already been leased to companies like TCS, IBM, Valtech, DevX and APSER Life Sciences.
He said that GIFT City would serve as an anchor for the project and that Gujarat could become the largest GCC hub in India within ten years.
Foreign money is moving to Taiwan and Korea
The sentiment in the markets is very different. India It is close to exiting the world’s five largest stock markets for the first time in three years.
Since September 2024, when its total market value touched a record level of $5.73 trillion, it has lost about $924 billion. The Nifty 50, once the world’s best-performing major index, has fallen more than 9% this year and is on track for its first annual loss in a decade.
The reason is artificial intelligence, but not the kind that India celebrates. Investors are not looking for AI talent or services at the moment. They want potato chips. Taiwan owns TSMC, which makes the world’s most advanced semiconductors.
South Korea owns Samsung and SK Hynix, which make the memory chips that power AI data centers. Their stock markets are up 78% and 42% this year. Now the two countries are less than $500 billion away from overtaking India in terms of total market capitalization.
On the other hand, India’s IT sector is moving in the opposite direction. It is a $315 billion industry built on the offshore labor of Western companies. The Nifty IT index has fallen more than 26% this year, its lowest level since 2023. The main reason is that artificial intelligence has become very adept at programming and other routine work that Indian technology companies initially revolved around.
Foreign investors are leaving India, and fast
Foreign investors have taken a net $42 billion from Indian markets since the start of 2025. Their share of Indian stocks has fallen to a 14-year low and is now below that of domestic investors for the first time in more than 20 years, according to Goldman Sachs.
India’s share in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index fell from 19% last year to about 12%.
“This is not a decline you can buy,” said Gary Duggan, CEO of the Global CIO Office. “It’s an ultimate value story. Assumptions about where these companies will be in 10 years have to change.”
India currently ranks first when it comes to AI skills has about 16% Of the world’s artificial intelligence talents. Unfortunately, talent is not enough to move markets the way chip factories do. There is no Indian company like TSMC that relies on the ups and downs of demand for AI chips. The presence of artificial intelligence in India Spread across service companies, unlisted start-ups and the growing local market.
“As the world reprices around AI, India’s major indices remain entrenched in the past,” said Adil Ibrahim of Clay Group. He said that until Indian markets produce a new generation of technology makers, India will remain on the sidelines of the global investment story in artificial intelligence.
The gap between government promises and what markets are saying has rarely been so difficult to ignore.
