India was fortunate to have a steady growth in this transformative period, says Ashwini Vaishnaw

Geopolitics, geoeconomics and geotechnology are all changing the world order and hugely impacting businesses and economies globally, said Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister for Railway, Information and Broadcasting and Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, in Bengaluru on Tuesday (August 5, 2025).

During this transformative period, India was fortunate to have a steady growth, he said while delivering a keynote address virtually to SAP Labs’ leadership and employees at the Garman tech major’s newly set up SAP Labs India Innovation Park at Devanahalli in the City outskirts.

Commenting on India’s economic growth and technological advancements in Railways even under challenging times, the Union Minister said, “From being the 11th largest economy in the world 11 years ago, India is now on track to become the third largest economy soon. Electronics exports have grown 8 times in the last 11 years. Very soon, we will start the production of the first Made in India chip. The Bullet train accelerates from 0-100 kmph in 54 seconds whereas Vande Bharat does it in 52 seconds.’‘

He further said, as part of the Union government’s initiatives to democratise compute power, 34,000 GPUs were made available to every student, researcher, and college startups across the country, a provision made through a Public-Private Partnership. Cost of per computing was less than a $ in India when that was $2.5 globally. “This is the kind of empowerment we are doing for young innovators. We in India decided to democratise access to compute power and in a very interesting public private partnership.”

SAP Labs invested €194 million to set up SAP Labs India Innovation Park, on a patch of 41 acres of land, and the facility is expected to create 15,000 jobs for AI innovators.

“SAP’s this new facility in Bengaluru is a timely investment in India’s growth story. This campus reflects global confidence in India’s talent and innovation ecosystem. It will further boost India’s position as a trusted technology partner,” Mr. Vaishnaw said.

SAP’s new innovation campus would reflect global confidence in India’s talent and innovation ecosystem, said the minister.

Strategically located near Kempegowda International Airport, SAP Labs campus is envisioned as a flagship innovation and R&D hub for India and the broader Asia-Pacific region. Once fully operational, it will house 15,000 professionals, making it SAP’s largest office in India, and will anchor Global AI roles in Product Engineering and Customer Services & Delivery, according to company officials.

The facility would lead the development of Joule’s agentic AI capabilities, reinforcing India’s growing role in AI innovation. As a future-ready facility, the campus would also feature a Customer Experience Centre, hybrid collaboration zones, AI labs, startup incubation hubs, hackathon spaces and plenty of green zones.