Intel India is pushing for policy intervention to address what it sees as a critical infrastructure gap. In a conversation with Anees Hussain, Santosh Vishwanathan, Vice President and Managing Director of Intel India, talks about how policy intervention could help bridge existing digital divide while also highlighting the company’s efforts to transform education delivery across India.
Q: You have proposed GST relief on computers for educational use. How would this work?
We are suggesting GST relief on computers for education using APAAR ID (Automated Permanent Academic Account Registry) as authentication validation. Just like paper, pen, pencil, and textbooks have zero GST for kids, computers should also be at the lowest tax cost because it is an investment in their future. You can prevent misuse through verification and connect this to the ‘Make in India’ objective, which could fuel adoption while supporting domestic manufacturing.
Q: What is driving this urgency around computer access in education?
The numbers are stark. India’s computer-to-student ratio is 1:120, while some Western countries have 1:1 and even countries like China and Indonesia have 1:10 to 1:20. We have 400 million kids in the education system, but less than 50% of schools have working internet, and many schools have just two functional computers.
India consumes just 15 million PC units annually for 1.4 billion people. Half of this is enterprise while the other half is consumer. Within consumer, we believe a large portion is restricted to metro cities and adult working population. Students still have limited access. India’s demographic dividend which is at a median age of 24-27 versus China’s 35-37, could become a liability without proper technology access.
Q: Is this primarily an affordability issue?
It isn’t just a resource problem, it’s a societal and mindset problem. TV penetration is 70-80% at similar price points to laptops. If you add OTT subscriptions, TVs become more expensive, yet households prioritise entertainment over education technology. The real barrier is that parents and schools view computers as distractions rather than learning tools.
Q: What does a PC offer that smartphones do not for education?
While 95% of households have phones, which is great for communication infrastructure, it doesn’t do too well with focused two-way engagement. Education needs to be a two-way system rather than one-way. Phones work well for video-based learning, but AI-enabled education requires intelligence that knows individual students, takes inputs, and gives tailored feedback based on understanding levels. That focused, two-way learning environment is very hard to achieve on a phone’s smaller screen.
Q: What role are edtech companies playing in your strategy?
We have partnered with many edtech firms including Physics Wallah, Infinity Learning, iPrep, amongst others to develop custom solutions in education for India. By providing access to AI PCs as well as other hardware and computing support, these platforms become the bridge to demonstrate value of our technology in the space. The first wave of edtech was video-based learning, which was good teachers explaining concepts through videos. But AI is now enabling the next phase: two-way intelligent systems that know individual students, provide tailored inputs based on their understanding levels, and offer personalised practice. Intel AI PCs enable this through local processing of smaller AI models, hardware telemetry for personalised learning, and enable features like attention tracking and real-time feedback, all without requiring cloud connectivity.
Q: Why focus on local AI processing rather than cloud-based solutions?
Privacy and practicality. Today, children use general-purpose AI models not designed for them. When a child uses the same phone as adults, LLMs don’t necessarily know if it’s a child or adult using it. With AI PCs, smaller models run locally using NPU hardware. This allows for analysing learning patterns, providing personalised feedback without sending data to cloud infrastructure. This makes it frugal, scalable, and suitable for remote locations even without internet access.
Q: How has the traction for AI PCs in India been? What is your vision going forward?
We are seeing great momentum. Next year we plan to bring AI PCs to mainstream price points, not just premium segments. In a couple of years, everyone will be either be on an AI PC or on a device running AI. Users will need NPU, GPU, and CPU architecture working together for these applications.