In a major boost to the artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem in India, the Cabinet has announced an allocation of over Rs 10,300 crore towards the IndiaAI Mission, spanning the next five years, to accelerate key initiatives such as the IndiaAI Compute Capacity, IndiaAI Innovation Centre (IAIC), IndiaAI Datasets Platform, IndiaAI Application Development Initiative, IndiaAI FutureSkills, IndiaAI Startup Financing, and Safe & Trusted AI.
Following the Cabinet decision, Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi expressed his enthusiasm in his tweet saying, “A landmark day for tech and innovation! The Cabinet’s approval for the IndiaAI Mission will empower AI startups and expand access to compute infrastructure, marking a giant leap in our journey towards becoming a global leader in AI innovation.”
A landmark day for tech and innovation! The Cabinet’s approval for the IndiaAI Mission will empower AI startups and expand access to compute infrastructure, marking a giant leap in our journey towards becoming a global leader in AI innovation. https://t.co/NyCAiMLoHs https://t.co/bXfb6PwpgK
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 7, 2024
Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar, said that this approval will benefit Indian citizens and contribute significantly to the expansion of India’s economy.
The investment ensures proper implementation of the IndiaAI Mission through a collaborative public-private partnership model to nurture India’s AI innovation ecosystem.
Benefits of the investment
- The investment will support the IndiaAI Compute Capacity, designed to establish a state-of-the-art, scalable AI computing infrastructure by deploying over 10,000 Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) through strategic collaborations between the public and private sectors.
- The funding aims to strengthen the IndiaAI Startup Financing mechanism, providing streamlined access to funding for emerging AI startups and accelerating their journey from product development to commercialization. Funding provisions for industry-led AI projects are included to foster social impact, drive innovation, and encourage entrepreneurship.
- The IndiaAI Innovation Centre (IAIC), envisioned as a leading academic institution, will play a pivotal role in implementing and retaining top research talent. The approved funds will empower IAIC to lead the development and deployment of foundational models, with a specific emphasis on indigenous Large Multimodal Models (LMMs) and domain-specific models, utilizing edge and distributed computing for optimal efficiency.
- The IndiaAI Datasets Platform, to be developed by the Independent Business Division (IBD), will get a boost, enhancing the accessibility, quality, and utility of public sector datasets. This will ensure data-driven governance and catalyze AI-based innovation and research.
- The IndiaAI FutureSkills initiative aims to broaden the impact of AI education. This will be achieved by enhancing the accessibility of graduate and post-graduate AI programs. Additionally, the program seeks to establish Data and AI Labs, not only in major Indian cities but also in smaller towns, to provide foundational-level courses in Data and AI.
Aligning with the overarching goals of the IndiaAI Mission, these endeavors strive to enhance India’s worldwide prominence in AI, nurture self-sufficiency in technology, promote the ethical and responsible deployment of AI and make the advantages of AI accessible to all layers of society.
