The India AI Impact Summit 2026 was organized by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology under its ‘India AI Mission’, at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, from 16-21 February last. It was inaugurated by PM Modi who espouses arch communal utterly revivalist Hindutva doctrine, banishment of scientific thought and rational bent of mind and seek solution in spiritual devotion and divine endowment. Speaking during his monthly radio address Mann Ki Baat, Modi described the summit as a showcase for “India’s remarkable capabilities” in AI. “At the AI summit exhibition, I showed myriad things to world leaders. I want to mention two things in particular. These two products at the summit greatly impressed leaders from around the world,” the Prime Minister said. The first demonstration, he explained, illustrated how AI is transforming animal healthcare and helping farmers manage dairy operations and livestock through round-the-clock digital assistance. As the country was gearing up for this event over the past couple of months, a constitutional authority had been releasing reports on what digital governance has achieved since 2015. Hon’ble PM also said, world leaders were “amazed” by India’s use of artificial intelligence mainly to preserve ancient texts and traditional knowledge systems. But what was not disclosed is whether the quality of digitalization that the country has achieved today warrants the great leap forward into an Artificial Intelligence-driven future.
A Symposium of Irony
What hon’ble PM did not mention was that the India AI Impact Summit 2026 was virtually a symposium on irony. Neha Singh, a communications professor at Greater Noida-based Galgotias University, gestured towards a four-legged robot at the varsity’s stall and proudly introduced it as having been “developed by the Centre of Excellence at that University” naming it ‘Orion’. This, she claimed, as the university’s own breakthrough in artificial intelligence. But within hours, X (formerly Twitter) identified it as the Unitree Go2, a product of Chinese manufacturer Nitree Robotics, available off the shelf for roughly Rs 2-3 lakh. The robodog was not the only exhibit that day attracting scepticism. A football-playing drone on display from the Galgotias University campus— presented as an indigenous project — was alleged to closely resemble the Striker V3 ARF, a commercially available model designed by Helsel Group, South Korean company, retailing in India for around Rs 40,000. As a face saving, the university was subsequently asked to vacate its stall. The wound was heeled but the scar remained.
Enviable Record of Galgotias University
But for those who have followed Galgotias University over the years, the episode felt less like a shocking revelation and more like a familiar pattern — a pattern of inflated claims, manufactured credibility, plagiarism and public unravellings. Many users trolled various departments of the university with a funny collection of memes(an image, video, piece of text, etc., typically humorous in nature, that is copied and spread rapidly by internet users, often with slight variations). During the pandemic, Galgotias University faculty published a research paper claiming that the vibrations produced by striking a thali (metal plate used to serve food) — and ringing bells — could kill the coronavirus. Perhaps based on that, PM Modi during onset of the pandemic gave call to beat metal utensils to keep the virus at bay. The paper was widely ridiculed. It drew serious scrutiny toward the university’s academic standards and its peer-review process, or, to be exact, apparent lack of that. Pertinent to recall that in 2024, a group of Galgotias University students went viral for entirely different reasons. Participating in a political protest in New Delhi against “urban Naxalism”, several students were filmed unable to pronounce — or explain —the very slogan on their placards. Some read it as “urban maxwell”. When reporters asked them about the meaning of “urban Naxalism”, the students fumbled visibly. The clip circulated as a meme and raised uncomfortable questions about the quality of civic awareness being cultivated on campus of that University.
Foundation of the University was Shadowed by Controversy
Long before the robots and the drones, the very foundation of the institution were shadowed by controversy. The university’s founder, Suneel Galgotia, was accused of using forged documents to obtain a loan of Rs 120 crore. The allegations, relating to the period between 2010 and 2012, cast a long shadow over the institution’s governance from its earliest years. But that did not come in the way of the University in securing blessings of PM Modi. Reports indicate that PM Modi previously recognized Galgotias University, with mentions of him handing them the DQ ICT award and calling it a “top” private university in terms of academics and global linkages. The university has also been known to host exhibitions related to the PM Modi. Galgotias University had also publicly declared that its teaching and research engagements are based on PM Modi’s vision of “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” (Self-reliant India). The directive is clear: India must occupy space in global rankings so that the state can claim “Vishwa Guru” status every year, regardless of the hollowed-out reality beneath.
Ludicrous Defence
Galgotias, when cornered, fell back on the same script. The university spoke of a “slip of the tongue” and “misunderstandings.” On 17 February, the university posted on X that “Galgotias has not built this robodog, neither have we claimed so”. It said it had “recently acquired” the robodog from Unitree. What a volte face! And then, around 1.40 am on 18 February 18, Galgotias doubled down, alleging a “propaganda campaign” against it and stating that the university community was “deeply pained” at the way they were criticized which amounted to dampening the national spirit. “Spreading negativity can harm the morale of students, who are working hard to innovate, learn, and build their skills using global technologies,” the statement said. At 5.04 pm same day, the university issued a third statement where it “apologized profusely” for the “confusion” and sought to pin the blame on Neha Singh. Without naming her, the statement said: “one of our representatives manning the pavilion was ill-informed”. But in a statement to ANI, Neha Singh said she might not have expressed herself clearly. “Your 6 can be my 9,” she remarked – a weird philosophical defence at what is meant to be a technological summit. Yet the derision directed at Galgotias spills over onto India itself. How could such a brazen deception find space in an arena of such purported prestige—an event where the Prime Minister’s image was the primary currency, people asked. People also wondered who vetted the credentials of Galgotias University. Who opened the doors of this fair to them? Even before the claim of originality was exposed, a Union BJP Minister had already bestowed public endorsement upon it. Do our ministers now affix a sovereign seal to every claim without scrutiny? He deleted his post after the uproar but did not apologize.
Events Framed as Act of Grace by PM Modi
Pertinent to mention that every national programme, project or summit, in our contemporary public discourse, is framed as an act of grace by PM Modi, performed for his glory. The Galgotias episode recalls a man stepping into the sunlight in a spotless, starched kurta, only to have a sudden clod of mud ruining the image. There is a suspicion that suspects Galgotias is being castigated not for its fraud, but for the tactical error of damaging the “brand.”
But perhaps such expectations are naive. When the PM Modi himself suggests that ancient Indian “wisdom” included stem cell technology—proven, he said, by the birth of the Kauravas—or that the first organ transplant was performed by a divine surgeon who placed an elephant’s head on Ganesha, the boundary between myth and empirical fact dissolves. When the hon’ble PM tells the youth that tea can be brewed using gas harvested from a gutter, why should a university feel tethered to the constraints of truth? When imagination replaces inquiry at the highest levels, Galgotias is merely a diligent student of the prevailing climate.
Galgotias University— A Product of ‘Amritkal’
Fact is that, as observed by a noted educationist, Galgotias is not an outlier but a symptom of systemic rot. The state rewards institutions on the basis of “rankings”—autonomy, new campuses, and the lucrative right to grant online degrees are all tethered to these metrics. Institutions are driven into a race of numbers. They inflate research publications and patent filings to satisfy the authorities of accreditation. We are witnessing the rise of degree factories designed to satisfy the government’s craving for high Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) statistics. If quality is never interrogated, the numbers look magnificent. It bears recall that the BJP government has an unenviable record of promoting this logic. It awarded the tag of “Institution of Eminence” to Ambani group-owned Jio Institute when the institution did not yet exist—it was merely an idea. All these are in consonance with the proclamation of a novel education system that has been described in the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP20) as a mark of India’s entry into ‘Amritkal’ (Period of elixir).
Foundation History of Galgotias
Now a few words about the foundation history of the Galgotias University. The university was set up by Suneel Galgotia, who has publicly aligned the institution with the political leadership’s vision in recent years, stating, “We remain committed to realizing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of making India a developed nation and a global leader and Vishwa Guru, and to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s dream of establishing UP as a global knowledge superpower.” So, there ought not to be any confusion about the vision and mission of this Tech-university. Over the years, Suneel Galgotia, the university’s founder and chancellor, has aligned the institute’s mission with the political vision of the BJP-led government. In public statements, he has praised PM Modi, declaring that Galgotias is “fully committed to fulfil PM Modi’s vision of making India a Vishwaguru,” framing the university’s role within the national push towards a “developed nation and global leader”. He has also spoken appreciatively of UP BJP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, crediting his leadership with turning the state into an emerging hub for investment and higher education. Since then, he and his son Dhruv Galgotia, CEO of the university, has continuously echoed similar hues. Pertinent to mention that both Suneel and Dhruv Galgotia were invited as select dignitaries to PM Modi’s swearing-in ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan. So, the University’s proximity to the ruling dispensation and its avowal to uphold philosophy of the RSS-BJP are above question. Hence, the blessings of the ruling BJP have been poring on it as a mark of quid pro quo.
Quid pro quo
In 2014, Galgotias University received a reward presented by PM Modi, who was then the Chief Minister of Gujarat, at the DQ Cybermedia awards in Delhi, recognizing the institution for academic excellence and global linkages. Galgotias also hosted BJP leaders at conferences and academic programmes. UP minister Yogendra Upadhyaya has served as chief guest at an international academic event, while BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra has appeared at a convocation ceremony. On February 17-18, 2021, at a ceremony attended by the then education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal, the university took an oath to implement a 12-step roadmap for the policy, which, among other things, includes the integration of ‘Indian knowledge systems’, a prescript of ruinous NEP 20, into its curriculum during a 2022 UP Digi Shakti Yojna event, Dhruv Galgotia praised the “positive success” of digitization under the current leadership, stating: “Under the leadership of our Prime Minister Modi and our Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, there has been a positive success towards digitising UP. Uttar Pradesh has become one of the digitally active states.” Galgotias University also distributed 72 tablets to students under UP government’s Digi Shakti scheme.
In November 2024 Galgotias participated in VIVIBHA 2024 (Vision of Viksit Bharat), an event organized by the Bharatiya Shikshan Mandal, an RSS affiliate working in the education sector. During the event, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat visited the university’s pavilion, which Galgotias noted had been named “Best Exhibitor”. Union HRD Minister Dharmendra Pradhan also delivered a keynote address at a National Innovation Workshop co-hosted by Galgotias University in August 2025 in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, AICTE and the Innovation Cell. Earlier this month, Dhruv Galgotia was featured as a speaker at the India Today Education Conclave in Delhi, and as far back as 2012, the university has served as a conclave partner for the ‘India Today Conclave’s branding and promotion.
Endeavour to Firm Up Fascist Cultural Base
To conclude, it can only be said that education in India is in its lifetime peril. The motto of the BJP government is to annihilate education in every respect, distort its objective and transform it into a saleable commodity stripped of its essence. Also, there is a penchant for showcasing India’s “spectacular” achievement in every field including modern technology like AI and in the process, get ridiculed for false claim and smarted exhibition of skills which are not acquired. So, PM Modi’s claim that that the world got to see India’s amazing capabilities in the field of AI at the Summit proved to be a fiasco when plagiarized robotic dog and drone marred the show. PM Modi hailed the Summit for being the biggest AI summit ever. But summits in Bletchley Park, UK; Seoul, South Korea; and Paris, France were major, high-level, and focused on safety/ governance. So, making mountain of a mole has been the fulcrum of the BJP government’s show business and that was once again laid bare. But this time it was not without glitch, if not ridicule. But what is noteworthy is that there is concerted attempt to fuse technical aspects of science with spiritualism and traditionalism—the cultural base of fascism. That is what to be taken a serious note of while despising the whole episode of promoting Galgotias university and claiming others’ discoveries as that of India’s.
