THE RETURN OF TERRITORY? STATE, REGIONS AND STRATEGIC GOVERNANCE IN EUROPE AND INDIA - CONVERGING STORIES OF MAHARASHTRA POWER IPOs, LAND TOKENISATION AND AI STACK

Abstract

India is poised to shift from AI user to AI builder over the next decade with a call for a homegrown AI stack and infrastructure. At Global Fintech Fest 2026 in Mumbai on 9 September, it was stated that Year One for building India's own AI has begun. The country now has its own models, GPUs, and skilled talent. The belief is that in next 10 years India will lead in both adoption and building of AI. The advantage is not only scale but ability to build at cost that works for a large population. The warning is that without a full-stack AI alternative, India risks becoming a digital colony, repeating the pattern of being primarily a consumer of technology.

The push for homegrown AI stack is linked to a pitch for an AI stack that Indian enterprises, particularly banks and financial institutions, can control without dependence on few vendors. Organizations need an ecosystem approach to deploy AI safely and at speed in regulated sectors and financial inclusion.

At infrastructure layer, call is for India-based AI infrastructure operating with no data retention and outside extraterritorial laws like US Patriot Act. Need is for token factories to work in India under domestic jurisdiction. Dependence on one or two vendors at model layer should be avoided; financial institutions should have choices including homegrown open-weight and custom models.

This AI sovereignty debate converges with territorial governance experiment in Maharashtra. Maharashtra is working on India's first legislative and blockchain-based framework for tokenisation of land, announced at same Fest. It is putting in place Maharashtra Digitisation and Exchange of Land Tokenisation Act, with framework developed with SEBI, BSE, NSE, industry and academia. Proposal envisages tokenising 7/12 land records - about 2.5 crore parcels - into tradable digital tokens with fractional ownership and mortgage token, enabling farmers to monetise without selling, reducing litigation where 60% civil cases are land-related, and preventing Benami transactions.

Both illustrate return of state not as old licence raj but as strategic platform orchestrator - Law provides trust, DPI provides scale, AI provides intelligence - transforming territory from physical container to tradable trusted digital stack.

This paper uses case studies and mixed methodology to examine AI Business and Management, AI Governance, Public Policy and Ethical Implications of AI token factories and Land token factories, arguing India must enforce efficacious solutions to rescue world from growth without workers and avoid deprivation of demographic dividend.