India AI Mission: Cabinet approves plan with outlay of $1.25 billion

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the artificial intelligence (AI) Mission with a budget outlay of $1.25 billion (over Rs 10,300 crore) Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal announced on Thursday (Mar 7). The budget allocated would be used to develop computing infrastructure, said the Indian government. 

In line with the Indian government’s push for ‘Making AI in India’ the Cabinet has approved a budget outlay of $1.25 billion, said the ministry of electronics and information technology, in a statement. 

This comes as New Delhi has sought to establish an ecosystem to facilitate and catalyse AI innovation across the public and private sectors. The approved budget would be used to create a large computing infrastructure in India.

The aim of this computing ecosystem is to keep up with the rise in demands of India’s rapidly expanding AI start-ups and research ecosystem and will also comprise an infrastructure of 10,000 or more Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), built through public-private partnerships, said the Indian government. 

Startups, academia, researchers and industry will be given access to the AI supercomputing infrastructure established under the India AI Mission, Goyal said, as per news agency PTI. 

He also said that a National Data Management Officer will be set up under the mission which will coordinate with various departments and ministers to improve the quality of data and will make it available for AI development and deployment. 

As part of the plan, India has also sought to develop and deploy indigenous Large Multimodal Models (LMMs) and domain-specific foundational models for “critical sectors,” and aims to use AI for large-scale socio-economic transformation. 

The Indian government, as per the India AI Mission, would also help mitigate barriers to entry into AI programs and will increase courses related to technology at undergraduate, masters-level, and PhD programs. 

India’s AI market, as per IT industry body Nasscom, is projected to reach $17 billion in the next three years or so. It is expected to grow up to 35 per cent between 2024 and 2027, reported Reuters. 

The rampant development and misuse of AI have left world leaders and lawmakers across the globe scrambling to make legislation in a bid to regulate it. 

Therefore, while New Delhi has sought to ramp up the use and development of AI in the country, it also recognises “the need for adequate guardrails” and will deploy measures for “implementation of Responsible AI projects,” said the technology ministry.  

This includes the development of indigenous tools and frameworks, self-assessment checklists for innovators, and other guidelines.

(With inputs from agencies)