Rethinking AI Access: Can India’s “Sachet Strategy” Democratize Artificial Intelligence? 

The article proposes that India should adopt a “sachet model” for AI access—selling individual AI prompts or tasks for low, one-time fees (e.g., ₹15)—inspired by the consumer goods revolution that made products like shampoo affordable through small packets. This approach aims to overcome the barrier of expensive monthly subscriptions, unlocking AI for millions of small businesses, farmers, and students for specific tasks like bookkeeping or analysis. The author argues the Indian government should partner with tech companies to create a proof of concept, leveraging existing digital infrastructure and initiatives like the IndiaAI Compute Pillar, to demonstrate scalability and drive a society-focused, value-based expansion of AI adoption at the upcoming AI Impact Summit.

Rethinking AI Access: Can India’s “Sachet Strategy” Democratize Artificial Intelligence? 

As the world races to harness artificial intelligence, a quiet revolution is brewing in how this powerful technology might be delivered to everyday people. Inspired by India’s famed consumer goods revolution of the 1980s, tech analysts are proposing a radical idea: selling AI not through expensive subscriptions, but in small, affordable, single-use packets, or “sachets.” This model could hold the key to unlocking AI for billions in the developing world, transforming it from a tool for the elite into a utility for the masses. 

The Sachet Legacy and Its Digital Potential 

The sachet concept is deeply rooted in Indian economic history. Faced with a population where large upfront costs were prohibitive, visionary entrepreneurs began selling products like shampoo and detergent in tiny, single-use packets costing just a few rupees. This micro-packaging innovation broke down the barrier of cost, bringing everyday goods within reach of hundreds of millions and sparking a consumption boom. Today, a similar barrier exists with AI. Even the most affordable monthly AI subscription in India (around ₹399 or $4.42) represents a significant commitment for a small shopkeeper or farmer. 

The proposed “AI sachet” would translate this model to the digital realm. Instead of a monthly fee, a user could pay a nominal one-time charge—say, ₹15 ($0.17)—to access a specific AI task. A tailor could use an “AI sachet” to generate a professional invoice from a photo of handwritten measurements. A student could purchase one to get detailed feedback on an essay draft. This pay-per-prompt approach aligns perfectly with the cash-flow realities of much of India’s economy and could ignite widespread, organic adoption. 

Global AI Geopolitics: The Race for Influence 

India’s domestic experiment with accessible AI is unfolding against a backdrop of intense global competition. The AI landscape in 2026 is defined by a multipolar struggle for influence, primarily between the United States and China. The U.S. strategy is increasingly centered on exporting its full “AI tech stack”—the underlying hardware, software, and standards—as a tool of geopolitical influence. Conversely, China is leveraging its strength in open-source models and applied, deployment-ready AI technologies to capture global market share. 

For a nation like India, which is simultaneously a massive market, a rising tech power, and a strategic partner, this creates both opportunity and urgency. Developing a sovereign, inclusive model for AI access is not just an economic imperative but a strategic one. As Trisha Ray of the Atlantic Council’s GeoTech Center notes, nations are pursuing “sovereign AI” to protect national security and reflect national values, but they must wisely choose “what to build, what to buy, and where partnerships make more sense”. 

A Comparative View: AI Access Models 

The Pillars for Success: DPI and Governance 

India is uniquely positioned to pilot the sachet model due to its foundational investment in Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI). Systems like Aadhaar (digital identity) and the Unified Payments Interface (instant payments) have created a “digital rail” that can authenticate users and facilitate microtransactions seamlessly. An AI sachet platform could plug directly into this existing infrastructure. 

Furthermore, the timing aligns with India’s upcoming AI Impact Summit in February 2026, where the nation is set to launch its sovereign large language model. This provides a perfect testing ground. The government’s IndiaAI Compute Pillar, which already rents out computational power for less than a dollar per hour, could be the technical backbone for a sachet marketplace. The key, as the original article suggests, is for the government to partner with the private sector, sharing usage data from this public utility to prove the model’s scalability. 

This aligns with a critical global trend: the push for values-based AI governance. As international forums like the UN-backed Global Dialogue on AI Governance emerge, nations are grappling with how to steer AI development responsibly. India’s people-centered, accessibility-driven model could offer a compelling alternative to purely commercial or state-controlled approaches, contributing to what the Atlantic Council terms the “playbook for democratic AI leadership”. 

Navigating the Risks: Poisoned Data and Digital Sovereignty 

The path forward is not without peril. One of the most pressing global AI risks is “AI poisoning,” where bad actors deliberately flood the internet with false data to corrupt the models trained on it. As people increasingly rely on AI for information, a model trained on poisoned data could distort their understanding of the world. For a sachet model serving millions of first-time users, ensuring the integrity and trustworthiness of the underlying AI is paramount. 

This underscores the importance of digital sovereignty and robust governance. A sachet ecosystem must be built on secure, auditable, and ethically aligned foundational models. It is not enough to make AI cheap; it must also be reliable and safe. 

A Blueprint for an Inclusive AI Future 

The AI sachet proposal is more than a clever pricing strategy; it is a vision for a fundamentally different relationship between society and technology. 

• Bridge the Digital Divide: It directly addresses the economic barrier that is the primary obstacle to adoption for the majority of the world’s population. 

• Catalyze Grassroots Innovation: By placing AI tools in the hands of small business owners, farmers, and artisans, it could unlock waves of local, context-specific innovation that top-down solutions would never anticipate. 

• Strengthen Democratic AI: It offers a tangible model for developing and deploying AI that prioritizes broad public benefit and inclusion over pure profit or control, contributing to a more balanced global AI ecosystem. 

As the world watches the U.S.-China AI race intensify and grapples with the global governance of this transformative technology, India’s sachet experiment presents a third path. Its success could prove that the future of AI is not just about who builds the most powerful model, but about who designs the most humane and accessible bridge to it. The lessons learned in Pune’s shops and Maharashtra’s fields may well shape the blueprint for inclusive technological progress for the next billion.