ImagiNxt 2026 opens
Hosted by Maharashtra Tourism, the inaugural edition of ImagiNxt 2026, India's Festival of Technology & Innovation, kicked off on 22nd May at the Jio World Convention Centre, Mumbai. The two-day event brought together founders, policymakers, investors, enterprise leaders, and technology innovators from India and abroad, hosting over 10,000 attendees, 150+ Indian and global speakers, 250+ startups, and 100+ investors on a single platform.
The opening day featured keynote addresses by Dr. Jitendra Singh, Hon'ble Union Minister of State for Science & Technology, and Shri Devendra Fadnavis, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Dr. Singh highlighted India's transformative decade ahead, noting that the country's space economy is projected to scale from USD 9 billion to USD 40–45 billion over the next decade, while its space startup ecosystem has grown from single digits to more than 400 startups in just five years. He also pointed to India's defence production crossing ₹1.5 lakh crore in 2025 and the government's newly announced ₹1 lakh crore Research, Development and Innovation Fund aimed at boosting deep-tech innovation.
Shri Devendra Fadnavis outlined Maharashtra's ambitious technology roadmap, stating, "Artificial Intelligence is set to transform every aspect of business, governance and everyday life, and Maharashtra is determined to be at the forefront of that transformation. Through the Maharashtra AI Policy 2026, we have laid out an ambitious roadmap to attract over ₹10,000 crore in investments and create more than 1.5 lakh jobs by 2031. To support this vision, we are building six AI Centres of Excellence, five AI Innovation Cities, launching a ₹500 crore AI Startup Fund, establishing 12 AI incubators and creating a shared compute infrastructure of 2,000 GPUs to accelerate innovation across startups, enterprises and government."
Deepak Lamba, Founder and CEO of ImagiNxt, said, “The response to the opening day of ImagiNxt 2026 reflects the scale of ambition and momentum building across India’s innovation ecosystem. From policymakers and founders to investors, creators and technology leaders, the platform brought together voices shaping what the next decade of India could look like across AI, deeptech, digital infrastructure and entrepreneurship.”
Positioned as a national platform for emerging technologies, ImagiNxt 2026 spotlighted critical conversations around AI, DeepTech, SpaceTech, digital infrastructure, and India's next phase of technology-led growth. With Maharashtra contributing over 31% of India's FDI inflows and aspiring to become a $1 trillion economy by 2030, the festival reflects the scale of ambition building across India's innovation ecosystem and reaffirms the state's position as a leading destination for entrepreneurship and innovation.
