During the parliamentary question hour on 27 November, Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Jitin Prasada outlined India’s robust strides in Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Lok Sabha.
Highlighting the country’s accomplishments and government initiatives, Prasada emphasized India’s leadership in AI skills, projects, and policy frameworks.
India’s Leadership in AI Rankings
The minister noted that India has been recognized globally for its AI capabilities. Stanford University ranked India among the top four nations, alongside the US, China, and the UK, in its Global and National AI Vibrancy rankings.
He also highlighted that the rankings evaluated 42 indicators, including AI skills and policy. Additionally, India topped Stanford’s AI skill penetration rankings and holds a leading position on GitHub, contributing 24.19% of global AI projects.
Key Initiatives Under the IndiaAI Mission
The Union Cabinet, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the IndiaAI Mission on March 7, 2024. This mission aims to position India as a global leader in AI through seven strategic pillars:
- IndiaAI Compute: Establishing a scalable AI computing infrastructure with over 10,000 GPUs.
- IndiaAI Innovation Centre: Developing and deploying indigenous Large Multimodal Models (LMMs) trained on India-specific data.
- IndiaAI Datasets Platform: Enhancing public sector datasets to make them AI-ready.
- IndiaAI Application Development Initiative: Scaling AI solutions to address key societal challenges.
- IndiaAI FutureSkills: Boosting AI education and setting up Data and AI Labs in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
- IndiaAI Startup Financing: Supporting AI startups at all development stages.
- Safe & Trusted AI: Creating responsible AI frameworks, including self-assessment tools and governance guidelines.
National AI Ecosystem
The Minister further noted that the government has launched the National AI Portal, a one-stop repository for AI-related information, including research, startups, and policies.
India is also a founding member and current chair of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI), having hosted summits in December 2023 and July 2024. These events expanded GPAI’s collaboration with OECD, growing its membership from 29 to 44 countries.
Supporting AI Research and Development
- FutureSkills PRIME: A digital skilling initiative aimed at reskilling 20 lakh individuals in emerging technologies, including AI, Blockchain, and IoT.
- Visvesvaraya PhD Scheme: Designed to increase PhDs in AI and related fields.
- AIRAWAT Project: Implemented by MeitY and CDAC, this AI research and compute platform supports research labs, startups, and academic institutions.
- NIC Centres of Excellence: AI as a Service is facilitated via Meghraj Cloud, with supercomputing facilities offering seven AI Petaflops (PFlops) in Delhi and five in Kolkata.
Applications Across Sectors
The minister emphasized AI’s transformative potential in agriculture, healthcare, education, weather forecasting, and logistics. Through its strategic initiatives and global partnerships, India aims to harness AI for societal benefit, solidifying its position as a global AI leader.
The response shared by the minister heightened the fact that this comprehensive approach underscores India’s commitment to fostering a safe, trusted, and innovative AI ecosystem.
