To be carried out by IndiaAI Independent Business Division (IBD) under Digital India Corporation (DIC), the mission will develop and deploy indigenous large multimodal models (LMMs) and domain-specific foundational models in critical sectors
Indian union cabinet endorses the IndiaAI mission with a total investment of INR103.7bn to bolster AI innovation ecosystem. (Credit: Gerd Altmann from Pixabay)
The Indian union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the national-level IndiaAI mission with a total investment of INR103.7bn ($1.25bn) to bolster the artificial intelligence (AI) innovation ecosystem.
India’s initiative will establish an extensive ecosystem to catalyse AI innovation via strategic programmes and alliances across the public and private sectors.
The IndiaAI mission aims to democratise computing access, enhance data quality, develop indigenous AI capabilities, and attract top AI talent.
By fostering industry collaboration, providing startup risk capital, enabling socially impactful AI projects, and strengthening ethical AI, the mission will also facilitate responsible and inclusive growth of the AI ecosystem in India.
To be carried out by IndiaAI Independent Business Division (IBD) under the Digital India Corporation (DIC), the mission will develop and deploy indigenous large multimodal models (LMMs) and domain-specific foundational models in critical sectors.
The mission will also build a high-end scalable AI computing ecosystem. It will include AI compute infrastructure of 10,000 or more graphics processing units (GPUs), built using public-private partnership.
Under the initiative, the IndiaAI Datasets Platform component will optimise access to quality non-personal datasets for AI innovation. Another component, the IndiaAI Application Development Initiative will promote AI applications in critical sectors.
Besides, startup financing included in the IndiaAI mission aims to bolster and expedite the growth of deep-tech AI startups, providing them with simplified access to financing to facilitate visionary AI initiatives.
The mission also recognises the need for adequate guardrails to advance the responsible development, deployment, and adoption of AI. Furthermore, the IndiaAI mission will mitigate barriers to entry into AI programmes and increase AI courses.
Last month, the Indian union cabinet endorsed the setting up of three semiconductor fabrication facilities (fabs) in the country with a total investment of INR1,256bn.
The three units were approved under the framework of Development of Semiconductors and Display Manufacturing Ecosystems in India and are expected to commence construction this year.