RT team
The Indian government is set to introduce a proposal for developing a homegrown Foundational AI Model. Announced by Abhishek Singh, Additional Secretary at the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), the initiative was unveiled at the inauguration of an AI Centre of Excellence in GIFT City, Gandhinagar. Singh called on Indian startups and innovators to contribute, stressing the limitations of foreign AI models, which are largely trained on Western datasets and lack adaptability to Indian languages and contexts.
BharatGen: A Step Towards Indigenous AI
This move builds on the previously announced BharatGen project, a multimodal large language model (LLM) designed to process diverse data formats, including text, images, audio, and video. Singh highlighted the need for significant investment to develop an AI model tailored to India’s linguistic and cultural diversity.
Tackling AI Challenges and Expanding Infrastructure
Addressing AI-related risks such as deepfakes and misinformation, Singh reaffirmed the government’s commitment to creating safe and ethical AI systems. He also revealed plans to establish 18,000 GPUs under the IndiaAI Mission, aimed at supporting startups, researchers, and academic institutions. India is also actively contributing to global AI governance frameworks.
Aiming for Global AI Leadership
With India’s AI ecosystem rapidly expanding, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has stated that the country is on track to becoming a global AI powerhouse. With over 200 generative AI startups raising $1.2 billion since 2020, India’s AI sector is expected to reach $17 billion by 2030. By aligning AI development with local needs, India is strategically positioning itself as a global innovator in ethical and scalable AI solutions.
