Indian digital infrastructure startups on Saturday welcomed the trade framework with the US for its inclusion of critical artificial intelligence and data centre components.The Bharat Digital Infrastructure Association, a pioneer in the field, described the deal as a strategic inflection point for India’s AI and digital infrastructure ambitions.“The inclusion of graphic processing units and digital infrastructure in the deal is welcome. For the first time, AI compute infrastructure has been explicitly recognised within a bilateral trade agreement between two major global economies, underlining its role as critical national infrastructure,” data sovereignty campaigner Abhishek Bhatt said.Until now, high import duties of 20-28 per cent on enterprise GPU servers have significantly eroded India’s global competitiveness, making GPU-as-a-service pricing nearly 40 per cent higher than peer hubs such as Singapore and the UAE.Any move towards duty rationalisation can reduce the cost of setting up GPU-ready data centres by approximately 14 per cent, unlocking large-scale investments in AI infrastructure across the country, the Association said.As of today India generates nearly 19 per cent of global data but hosts only 6 per cent of global data centre capacity and just 1.4 per cent of the world’s installed enterprise GPUs.“The trade framework — combined with announced hyperscaler investments exceeding $80 billion by 2030 — can help bridge this gap and position India as a credible global AI compute hub,” BDIA said.It however cautioned that trade liberalisation must not come at the cost of digital sovereignty, national security, or indigenous value creation.“Access to GPUs is important, but access without sovereignty risks turning India into a low-margin compute colony. AI models trained on Indian data, in Indian data centres, must economically and strategically benefit India & Indian Industry,” BDIA said.Data safety experts have listed critical safeguards to guide implementation of the agreement. These are reciprocity in standards and market access, ensuring Indian certifications and services receive equal recognition in US markets; preservation of national security frameworks, including India’s Trusted Source Policy, Digital Personal Data Protection Act, and telecom safeguards; Data sovereignty and value retention, ensuring that AI-derived intelligence and IP created from Indian data accrue to India; Regulatory autonomy, protecting India’s right to regulate digital platforms, data flows, and strategic technologies.BDIA urged immediate domestic policy action, including temporary zero import duty on enterprise GPUs, a dedicated PLI scheme for AI and data centre infrastructure, infrastructure status for data centres, accelerated depreciation for GPU assets and regulatory clarity on cross-border GPU compute services.“This agreement creates a powerful tailwind. Whether India converts it into long-term AI leadership depends on how decisively policy action follows diplomacy,” BDIA added.