As Delhi prepares to host the India–AI Impact Summit 2026 next week, civic authorities are carrying out extensive clean-up and beautification drives across key parts of the capital, a process that will once again displace large numbers of homeless residents from public spaces.
The summit, scheduled from February 16 to 20 at Bharat Mandapam, is expected to bring heads of state, ministers, policymakers, global CEOs, CXOs and academics to Delhi. Officials describe it as the first global AI summit in the Global South, an event intended to project India as a leading voice in artificial intelligence and digital governance.
Ealier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasised that startups and AI entrepreneurs are the co-architects of India’s future and said that the country has immense capacity for both innovation and large-scale implementation. He added that India should present a unique AI model to the world that reflects the spirit of “Made in India, Made for the World.”
But alongside preparations for global delegates, the city’s homeless population, estimated at about 1 per cent of Delhi’s residents, is being moved from flyovers, footpaths and central verges along major routes and high-visibility areas, highlighting the tension between international showcase events and the lived realities of the urban poor.
Based on a September 2024 headcount by Shahri Adhikar Manch: Begharon Ke Saath (SAM: BKS), approximately 300,000 people are estimated to be homeless in Delhi, residing on streets, under flyovers, and in temporary, insecure shelters. While official Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) shelter capacity exists for around 16,760 to 19,000 plus individuals, independent surveys indicate this is insufficient to meet the needs of the city's large, vulnerable, and often transient homeless population.
A Coordinated Drive To Shift Homeless
According to the media reports, authorities are planning a coordinated drive to shift homeless persons from several arterial roads and locations, citing sanitation, public safety and presentability concerns. The identified routes include Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, Bhairon Marg, Purana Qila Road, Lala Lajpat Rai Marg, Mathura Road, Tilak Marg, Lodhi Road, NH-8, the Airport–Dhaula Kuan Ring Road and the Ring Road stretch between AIIMS and Dhaula Kuan. Flyovers such as the Oberoi Flyover have also been included.
A civic body official told TOI that joint field inspections had identified homeless persons temporarily residing in these areas, though no official numbers have been disclosed. The Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (Dusib) has been directed to shift homeless residents to nearby shelter homes while ensuring safety, dignity and access to basic amenities. The Public Works Department (PWD), Delhi Police, revenue department and zonal authorities of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) have been tasked with coordinating the exercise.
While quoting a Dusib official, TOI reported that shelter homes provide three meals a day, along with bedding, bathing and shaving facilities. However, officials acknowledge challenges in sustaining rehabilitation efforts. “In several cases, they are brought to shelters in buses at night, but by morning, many leave on their own,” the official said, adding that this makes long-term rehabilitation difficult.
The issue is not new. According to Sunil Kumar Aledia, executive director of the Centre for Holistic Development, homeless persons account for roughly one per cent of Delhi’s population, but the exact figure remains uncertain due to the absence of a formal census. An ad hoc survey conducted by Dusib in 2014 estimated around 16,760 homeless residents in the city.
Parallel to these relocation efforts, civic agencies are executing a sweeping citywide beautification and infrastructure drive. The MCD has rolled out an extensive plan to spruce up roads, markets, monuments, transit corridors and public spaces likely to be seen by international delegates.
Media reports stated that officials have been instructed to clear major routes of encroachments, illegal vendors, stray cattle and unauthorised advertisements. The directives include impounding stray cattle, dogs and monkeys, deploying round-the-clock teams for cleanliness, ensuring regular garbage lifting, maintaining streetlights and public toilets, and conducting a special anti-defacement drive to remove illegal posters and banners.
The civic body has also been asked to explore converting makeshift vendor stalls into “model tehbazaris” along key corridors to regulate street vending without causing clutter. Uniform wall paintings and murals are planned to improve aesthetics, while a 24×7 zonal control room will operate during the summit to address emergencies, HT reported.
A Familiar Pattern During Mega Events
While authorities emphasise logistics, safety and international perception, several note that repeated displacement of homeless residents during major events raises broader questions about how cities balance global ambitions with inclusive development. Many homeless individuals depend on proximity to work opportunities in construction, waste recycling, street vending and other informal activities that underpin Delhi’s economy.
Temporary relocation, even when accompanied by shelter facilities, can disrupt these fragile livelihood networks. Interestingly, the current preparations echo measures adopted during the G20 Summit hosted by India in 2023, when large-scale urban beautification drives were widely reported to have displaced significant numbers of low-income residents in Delhi.
Media and civil society estimates at the time suggested that more than three lakh people in the capital were affected by evictions linked to road-widening, slum clearance and public space redevelopment, part of efforts to present a cleaner urban image to visiting delegations.
With around 80 per cent of Delhi’s workforce employed in the informal sector and about 15 per cent of its population living below the poverty line, critics noted that such interventions disproportionately disrupted livelihoods and shelter security. Similar concerns were raised during earlier mega-events, including the Commonwealth Games, when physical barriers and clearance drives were used to screen informal settlements from public view, highlighting a recurring tension between event-led urban presentation and inclusive city planning.
A Global Summit, And The Infrastructure Test It Brings
Organised by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) under the IndiaAI Mission, the India AI Impact Summit 2026 is designed to shift the global conversation on artificial intelligence from policy intent to measurable outcomes. Officials said the summit aims to advance cooperation on AI deployment, particularly across the Global South, and to foster partnerships that translate technological innovation into tangible societal and economic benefits.
India is also pitching the summit as more than a policy get-together, aiming to shift the global conversation from worry about regulation and existential risks to practical deployment and development outcomes. The summit, described by the government as the first major global AI forum hosted in the Global South, is intended to generate actionable recommendations on how artificial intelligence can be used in governance, public services and industry.
New Delhi’s approach shows a broader diplomatic effort to elevate voices from emerging economies and centre discussions on access, scale and measurable public value in AI governance, a departure from earlier meetings dominated by Western-led regulatory agendas. In a column for BW Businessworld, Ananth Narayanan wrote that India’s approach also carries significance beyond its borders.
"Many of the structural conditions that define the Indian economy, such as fragmented supply chains, price sensitivity, and linguistic diversity, are shared across the Global South. AI systems designed to operate under Indian constraints are inherently portable. This positions India as a partner and reference point for other developing economies seeking to harness AI without deepening dependence on external platforms," Narayanan added.
Also Read: How India Is Turning Artificial Intelligence Into Economic Infrastructure
He also wrote that the summit signals India’s ambition to help shape the global AI narrative, shifting the focus from abstract risk to measurable impact.
Talking about the summit, the India AI Impact Expo 2026 will also be hosted at Bharat Mandapam from February 16 to 20. Envisioned as an experiential showcase of real-world AI applications, its layout is structured around seven thematic zones, covering areas ranging from trusted AI systems and human capital to inclusion, resilience, scientific advancement and the democratisation of AI resources.
In the months leading up to the summit, India has hosted multiple pre-summit engagements, including stakeholder consultations, regional technology and governance conferences, startup acceleration programmes and briefing sessions with international leaders, aimed at building momentum and ensuring broad-based global participation.
As New Delhi gears up to host the main summit sessions on 19 and 20 February, the scale of the event is already placing visible pressure on the city’s hospitality infrastructure. The capital’s hotel sector is witnessing an unprecedented surge in demand, with luxury inventory selling out rapidly, premium tariffs climbing sharply and availability tightening across top-end properties as domestic and international delegations converge for one of India’s most high-profile technology gatherings.
Industry executives noted the demand spike shows that both the stature of the summit and Delhi’s limited supply of high-quality hotel rooms. At several marquee properties, room rates during the summit window have risen steeply. At the Taj Palace, the Presidential Suite is reportedly being offered at close to Rs 30 lakh per night, compared with a usual tariff of around Rs 2.3 lakh. Other luxury hotels, including The Leela Palace and The Oberoi, New Delhi, are experiencing similar pressure, with premium suites either sold out or priced at historic highs. Several upscale properties, including The LaLiT, are operating at near-full occupancy.
Rajiv Mehra, General Secretary of the Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality, said the summit had triggered “exceptionally high demand for hotel rooms”, leading to a sharp escalation in rents across luxury and premium segments.
However, experts argue that the pricing surge shows structural constraints rather than short-term opportunism. According to consultancy HVS Anarock, Delhi’s luxury hotel pipeline has not expanded in line with its growing role as a host of large global events. Mandeep Lamba, President – South Asia at HVS Anarock, said that when international demand concentrates within a short period, limited high-quality inventory inevitably drives prices higher. Unlike cities such as Dubai or Singapore, which distribute mega-event demand across a wider base of premium accommodation, Delhi’s luxury segment remains relatively thin.
Also Read: Sold Out, Priced Out: What the AI Impact Summit Reveals About Delhi’s Event-readiness
The result is a market that overheats quickly, particularly for events involving longer stays, heightened security requirements and large corporate block bookings. Market data from online booking platforms shows a six-fold increase in hotel searches for New Delhi during the summit period, underscoring strong inbound interest from both international and domestic participants. In several cases, remaining rooms are being sold at elevated rates, often bundled with minimum-stay conditions to optimise limited inventory.
Meanwhile, India’s rapid urban transformation and its growing role as a host of global summits have brought infrastructure and governance capacity into sharp focus. At the same time, recurring displacement of vulnerable populations during such events underscores the challenge of ensuring that development-led city planning integrates long-term rehabilitation and livelihood stability, rather than short-term visibility management. |
