Why India needs a National Mission for Tech Resilience

The Hidden Dependency You Use Daily

Wait, could the apps you rely on every day grind to a halt because a policy in another country shifts? It’s not sci-fi—it's the real risk of India’s growing reliance on U.S. tech infrastructure. Your social apps, cloud services, and even the chips that run gadgets sit on a web that stretches from Silicon Valley to your smartphone. The long-term data and user base India represents make a total cutoff unlikely, but the volatility of foreign policy means a sudden disruption isn’t just possible—it’s plausible. Remember the GPS data denial during the 1999 Kargil War? That moment helped spark NavIC, India’s own navigation system. The stakes aren’t just tech—it's your job, your bank, your family’s safety net. This isn’t paranoia; it’s a call to understand how fragile the system you trust actually is.

A Strategy Shift: Building Resilience and IP

So, what changes when the risk becomes explicit? Analysts say India needs a “National Mission for Tech Resilience”—a public-private push to build indigenous platforms and reduce exposure to foreign policy swings. Think local software ecosystems, domestic cloud layers, and, crucially, homegrown hardware IP. This isn’t about banning the outside world; it’s about owning the critical levers that let India run even if a global partner pulls back.

Here’s a tangible example of what resilience could look like: Mindgrove Technologies in Chennai is mapping a path from design to ownership. The startup started with a modest IIT Madras grant and built commercial-grade SoCs for IoT, tapping the open Shakti processor project and moving toward proprietary designs. They’re fabless—design, then farm out manufacturing to foundries like TSMC. The goal isn’t merely to design chips for others, but to own the IP and solve India-specific problems, from Aadhaar-ready security to local manufacturing needs. With a $8 million raise and a Rs 15 crore DLI grant backing the next Vision SoC, Mindgrove shows how India can shift from passive consumer to active IP creator. It’s a blueprint—and a bet—that India can retain control while playing in a global market.

The through-line is clear: India’s path to digital sovereignty isn’t a single policy tweak. It’s a layered push—national resilience, domestic IP, satellite autonomy, and a thriving domestic tech economy. If India leans into Mindgrove-level ingenuity and scales it, the country won’t just ride the wave of globalization—it's aiming to steer it.