BHASHINI Signs MoU with DPIIT to Strengthen Multilingual Digital Capabilities

The Digital India BHASHINI Division (DIBD), under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry. 

Key Highlights of the Agreement

Under the partnership, BHASHINI's multilingual technology stack will be integrated into various DPIIT platforms to make government services, industrial information, and investment-related resources accessible in multiple Indian languages. The initiative seeks to eliminate language barriers faced by entrepreneurs, startups, investors, MSMEs, and citizens while accessing government services and business opportunities.

The collaboration will focus on providing services in all 22 languages recognized under the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. It will also promote the use of voice-enabled services, translation tools, multilingual AI models, linguistic datasets, and domain-specific glossaries to improve digital accessibility and inclusiveness.

About BHASHINI

BHASHINI (BHASHa INterface for India) is India's National Language Digital Public Infrastructure launched in July 2022 under the National Language Translation Mission (NLTM). It is implemented by the Digital India BHASHINI Division under the Digital India Corporation and functions under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

BHASHINI provides AI-driven language solutions such as text-to-text translation, speech-to-text conversion, text-to-speech services, speech-to-speech translation, and multilingual AI applications. Its primary objective is to ensure that digital services are available to citizens in their preferred Indian languages.

About DPIIT

The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) functions under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. It is responsible for industrial development, promotion of startups, intellectual property rights (IPR) administration, Ease of Doing Business reforms, and formulation of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policies in India.

Additional Key Facts :

BHASHINI is one of India's major Digital Public Infrastructure initiatives, alongside Aadhaar, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), DigiLocker, and the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).

The Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution currently recognizes 22 official languages. The latest additions to the schedule—Bodo, Dogri, Maithili, and Santali—were included through the 92nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 2003.

BHASHINI supports the objectives of the Digital India Programme by promoting linguistic inclusion and reducing the digital divide through AI-enabled language technologies.

Significance of the Initiative

The agreement is an important step towards digital inclusion and citizen-centric governance. By enabling access to information in regional languages, the initiative is expected to improve Ease of Doing Business and encourage wider participation in India's economic growth. It will particularly benefit startups and small businesses operating in non-English-speaking regions, thereby supporting inclusive development and digital empowerment.

The initiative also aligns with the Government of India's vision of leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) to make governance more accessible, efficient, and transparent.