India's AI strategy is based on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of democratising technology, Jitin Prasada, Minister of State for Electronics and IT, has said. In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, the minister noted that the 'IndiaAI Mission' aims to address nation-centric challenges and create opportunities.
The 'IndiaAI Missio'n was launched in March 2024 to build a strong and inclusive AI ecosystem in the country. In less than 18 months, the mission has created a solid foundation by expanding affordable access to compute infrastructure, with over 38,000 GPUs made available to Indian startups and academic institutions through a common compute facility.
The mission has also focused on developing indigenous AI capabilities. Twelve organisations and consortia have been selected to build foundational models, including Large Language Models (LLMs), while AIKosh has been launched as a national dataset platform to provide access to India-specific data from government and non-government sources, the minister said.
In addition, 30 applications have been approved to develop AI solutions tailored to Indian needs. To ensure long-term sustainability, the IndiaAI Mission is investing heavily in talent and infrastructure. According to Prasada, the mission aims to support 500 PhD scholars, 5,000 postgraduates and 8,000 undergraduates, has already set up 27 India Data and AI Labs with 174 more approved, and is offering foundation-level courses in AI and data-related fields to strengthen the country’s AI talent pipeline.
Additionally, the India AI Governance Guidelines, released on November 5, provide a comprehensive national framework to ensure the safe, responsible, and inclusive development and deployment of artificial intelligence in the country. "It outlines the principles and best practices for transparency, accountability, fairness, safety, and security in AI systems," the minister noted.
Furthermore, the 'Semicon India Programme', building on the success of electronics manufacturing, was launched in 2022 for the development of semiconductors. The government is focused on developing the entire ecosystem of semiconductors, which includes designing, fabrication, assembly, testing and packaging. The government is also focused on developing skills and talent required for the semiconductor industry, the minister highlighted.