India, Dec. 11 -- In the span of two days, global tech giants Microsoft and Amazon have pledged an investment of $17.5 billion and $35 billion, respectively, over the next few years in India. One more statistic can put the importance of these numbers into context: India's gross foreign direct investment (FDI) was $81.04 billion in 2024-25. This is unambiguously good news for the Indian economy. These companies are part of an elite club that is leading the Artificial Intelligence (AI) charge in the world. The debate on whether or not an AI boom, when it finally subsides, will hurt markets and investors in equity and debt markets, notwithstanding, there is no doubt that AI will play a critical role in shaping production, technology and employment in the not-so-distant future. This also means that economies that do not build their AI prowess will pay the price as far as future growth is concerned. Tech companies becoming more interested in India is also good news for another reason. As advanced economies, the US included, succumb to a growing sentiment against migrant workers - the backlash against things such as H-1B visa is a symptom of this - India has a unique opportunity to exploit its large diaspora which has been working in such companies and also create a learning ecosystem for its younger workforce back home. This window, if utilised properly, can create the next wave of private sector jobs that promises both upward mobility and growth. However, none of these larger advantages can be taken for granted. Governments - at the Centre and in the states - should work actively to put coherent policies and facilities for this kind of an ecosystem to flourish in the country. This will take a multi-pronged approach that focuses on improving the ease of doing business, ensures predictability in tax and data-related laws without sacrificing larger national interest, increases the integration between industry and education so that the younger workforce when it gets into the labour market can hit the ground running, and most importantly, work on a war-footing to improve the liveability of our cities. The chief minister of Karnataka asking the founder of a home-grown software giant for an approach road through its campus to take care of traffic is not something which will excite global tech companies about India....