India AI Mission and Emerging AI Ecosystem

Why in news: India is rapidly expanding its Artificial Intelligence (AI) ecosystem under the IndiaAI Mission, aiming to position the country as a global AI leader while promoting indigenous AI development, startups, datasets, and responsible governance.

About IndiaAI Mission

1Objective: “Making AI in India and Making AI Work for India” – focusing on sovereign AI capability, inclusive access, reduced dependence on foreign platforms, and using AI for social and economic growth.

2Implementation: IndiaAI, an independent division under MeitY, oversees AI innovation, ecosystem building, dataset creation, startup support, and responsible AI practices.

3Outlay & Infrastructure: ₹10,300 crore committed; 38,000 GPUs deployed for high-end computing.

4Key Initiatives:

oBharatGen AI: Multimodal, multilingual government-funded Large Language Model supporting 22 Indian languages.

oSarvam AI: Indigenous generative AI for public service delivery, including Aadhaar-based applications.

oAIKosh: Creation of national datasets to enable AI research and development.

oBhashini: AI-powered platform for translation and speech services across 20+ Indian languages.

oAI Competency Framework: Capacity-building program for government officials to strengthen AI governance.

Emerging AI Ecosystem in India

1Scale & Employment: AI sector revenue projected to exceed USD 280 billion, employing 6+ million people.

2Global Position: Ranked 3rd globally in AI competitiveness (Stanford University, 2025).

3Innovation Base: Over 1,800 Global Capability Centres (500+ AI-focused), ~1.8 lakh startups, 89% integrating AI into products/services.

4Enterprise Adoption: 87% of enterprises actively use AI; sectors like industrial & automotive, retail, BFSI, and healthcare contribute ~60% of AI value.

5Maturity Profile: 26% of companies have achieved AI maturity at scale.

Major Government Initiatives in AI

1Centres of Excellence (CoEs): Research hubs in healthcare, agriculture, sustainable cities, education to develop scalable AI solutions.

2India AI Impact Summit 2026: Flagship event to promote AI innovation and collaboration:

oAI Pitch Fest (UDAAN): Focus on women-led and differently-abled startups.

oGlobal Innovation Challenges: Open competitions for youth and innovators to solve real-world public sector issues.

oResearch Symposium: Forum for Indian and Global South researchers to exchange knowledge.

oAI Expo: Ethical and responsible AI exhibition with 300+ Indian and 30+ international exhibitors.

Significance

1Promotes indigenous AI development and reduces dependence on foreign platforms.

2Enhances digital public service delivery, multilingual access, and inclusive AI adoption.

3Positions India as a global hub for AI innovation, research, and responsible AI governance.

4Aligns with India’s Digital India vision and goals of economic growth, social inclusion, and technological self-reliance.