India’s compute consumption still remains low; with students having only a tiny access to computers

India’s current compute consumption per annum is 15 million PCs and students accounted for only a tiny portion of it, said Santosh Viswanathan, vice president and Managing Director, India Region Head at an Intel education event, PathAI Ka Future, in Bengaluru on Thursday (September 25, 2025).

America’s computing consumption was 80 million with the student community claiming half of it at 40 million, he said at PathAI Ka Future, an event organised to drive computing and technology in India’s learning space.

Similar trends, that of the U.S, were seen in China and Indonesia as well, he said, emphasising the need for enhanced use of computing in India in general and an accelerated adoption in education and learning spaces in particular.

The country currently has a student population of 418 million. Some 90% of youth in the country have access to smartphones, but only 9% own a PC, a device critical for deeper learning, creation and collaboration, according Mr. Viswanathan.

He said, further said, the digital divide ran deep in the country and 57% of schools had functional computers, hugely limiting students’ exposure to future-ready skills.

With AI in education at a tipping point, in India, the opportunity was immense, to shift from one-way content consumption to personalised, two-way learning. True transformation would come not from connectivity alone, but from access to the right device, he added.

In order to address the access-gap that exist in the education sector in the country, Intel, the Santa Clara-based semiconductor computer circuits manufacturer, is currentlty working with the education ecosystem that comprises indepedendant software vendors, EdTech innovations, OEMs across the country to make PCs more accessible, relevant and impactful.

By pairing powerful devices with cutting edge learning solutions, Intel was trying to turn classrooms into spaces of creativity, collaboration and future ready skills, Mr. Viswanathan stated.