Lok Sabha Question No. 678 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-07-23
Subject: Establishment of Data & AI Labs under IndiaAI Mission
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Shri Appalanaidu Kalisetti

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 678

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 23.07.2025

## ESTABLISHMENT OF DATA & AI LABS UNDER INDIAAI MISSION

## 678. SHRI APPALANAIDU KALISETTI:

Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state: (a)  the  criteria  adopted  by  the  Government  for  selecting  Tier  2  and  Tier  3  cities  for  the establishment of Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Labs under the IndiaAI Mission along with the list of cities selected so far, State-wise;

- (b) the number of proposals received from each State for the establishment of Data and AI Labs, along  with  the  current  status  of  these  proposals-whether  approved,  under  consideration  or rejected;
- (c) the number of Data and AI Labs that have been approved and established so far, Statewise; (d) the details of funds sanctioned, disbursed and utilised for setting up these labs, State-wise;
- (e)  whether the  Government proposes to establish any such Data and AI Labs in the State of Andhra Pradesh; and
- (f) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons for the non-inclusion of Andhra Pradesh under this initiative?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI JITIN PRASADA)

(a) to (f):    India's AI strategy is based on the Hon'ble Prime Minister's vision to democratize the use of technology. It aims to address India centric challenges, create economic and employment opportunities for all Indians.

## AI ecosystem in India at present:

India has a strong information technology ecosystem. It generates annual revenues of more than 250 billion dollars and provides employment to more than 6 million people.

Global rankings such as Stanford AI rankings place India among the top countries in AI skills, capabilities,  and  policies  to  use  AI.  India  is  also  the  second-largest  contributor  to  GitHub  AI projects, showcasing its vibrant developer community.

## India's AI strategy:

India's AI strategy aims to position India as a global leader in artificial intelligence. Government launched  IndiaAI  mission  in  March  2024.  It  is  a  strategic  initiative  to  establish  a  robust  and inclusive AI ecosystem aligned with India's development goals. The IndiaAI Mission comprises of the following 7 key pillars:

-  IndiaAI  Compute  Capacity: Itaimsto  provide  high-end  compute  power  (GPUs)  to  all, including MSMEs and startups, at an affordable cost.
-  IndiaAI Foundation Models: To develop India's own Large Multimodal Models (LMMs) trained on Indian datasets and languages, ensuring sovereign AI capabilities and strengthening India's global competitiveness in generative AI.
-  AIKosh: A unified data platform integrating datasets from government and non-government sources. To develop large datasets for training AI models.
-  IndiaAI Application Development Initiative: To develop AI applications for India specific challenges in sectors such as climate change and disaster management, healthcare, agriculture, governance, and assistive technologies for learning disabilities.
-  IndiaAIFutureSkills: To develop AI skilled professionals in India by increasing the number of graduates, post-graduates and PhDs in AI domain. It also envisions setting up Data and AI Labs in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities across India.
-  IndiaAI Startup Financing: To provide financial assistance to AI start-ups.
-  Safe & Trusted AI: To balance innovation with strong governance frameworks to ensure responsible AI adoption.

## IndiaAIFutureSkills:

-  To cultivate a robust pool of AI-skilled professionals in India by increasing the number of graduates, postgraduates, and PhDs specializing in the field of Artificial Intelligence. Provision of  support is envisioned for:
- o 500 PhD fellows
- o 5,000 postgraduates
- o 8,000 undergraduates
-  Over  200  students  have  received  fellowships  in  the  first  year,  with  26  partner  institutes onboarding PhD students.
-  It also envisions setting up Data and AI Labs in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities across India.
-  IndiaAI, in collaboration with NIELIT, has identified 27 data labs in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities across the country. (Details at Annexure I).
-  Additionally, State/UTs have nominated 174 ITIs and polytechnics for setting up IndiaAI data labs. The state-wise list of nominated ITIs/Polytechnics is provided in Annexure II .

## Budget and Funding Support for IndiaAI Data & AI Labs:

Each IndiaAI Data & AI Lab receives support of Rs. 68.98 Lakhs for three years.

Andhra Pradesh has nominated 9 ITIs/Polytechnics for establishing IndiaAI Data & AI Labs. Details of these institutions are available in Annexure III.

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Annexure I List of Data & AI labs planned by IndiaAI in collaboration with NIELIT in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities across the country:

|   S.No. | NIELIT Centre   | State/UT          |
|---------|-----------------|-------------------|
|       1 | Gorakhpur       | Uttar Pradesh     |
|       2 | Lucknow         | Uttar Pradesh     |
|       3 | Shimla          | Himachal Pradesh  |
|       4 | Aurangabad      | Maharashtra       |
|       5 | Patna           | Bihar             |
|       6 | Buxar           | Bihar             |
|       7 | Muzaffarpur     | Bihar             |
|       8 | Kurukshetra     | Haryana           |
|       9 | Ropar           | Punjab            |
|      10 | Haridwar        | Uttarakhand       |
|      11 | Bikaner         | Rajasthan         |
|      12 | Tezpur          | Assam             |
|      13 | Bhubaneswar     | Odisha            |
|      14 | Calicut         | Kerala            |
|      15 | Guwahati        | Assam             |
|      16 | Itanagar        | Arunachal Pradesh |
|      17 | Srinagar        | J&K               |
|      18 | Jammu           | J&K               |
|      19 | Ranchi          | Jharkhand         |
|      20 | Imphal          | Manipur           |
|      21 | Gangtok         | Sikkim            |
|      22 | Agartala        | Tripura           |
|      23 | Aizawl          | Mizoram           |
|      24 | Shillong        | Meghalaya         |
|      25 | Kohima          | Nagaland          |
|      26 | Leh             | Ladakh            |
|      27 | Silchar         | Assam             |

## The list of States/UTs which has nominated ITIs/Polytechnics for setting up IndiaAI data labs:

| Sr No   | State                    |   # ITIs Nominated by State Nodal Agency |
|---------|--------------------------|------------------------------------------|
| 1       | Andaman& Nicobar Islands |                                        1 |
| 2       | Andhra Pradesh           |                                        9 |
| 3       | Assam                    |                                        1 |
| 4       | Chandigarh               |                                        1 |
| 5       | Chhattisgarh             |                                        4 |
| 6       | Daman &Diu               |                                        1 |
| 7       | Delhi                    |                                        1 |
| 8       | Goa                      |                                        1 |
| 9       | Gujarat                  |                                        5 |
| 10      | Haryana                  |                                        6 |
| 11      | Himachal Pradesh         |                                        4 |
| 12      | Jammu &Kashmir           |                                        1 |
| 13      | Jharkhand                |                                        6 |
| 14      | Karnataka                |                                       23 |
| 15      | Ladakh                   |                                        1 |
| 16      | Lakshadweep              |                                        1 |
| 17      | Madhya Pradesh           |                                        9 |
| 18      | Mizoram                  |                                        1 |
| 19      | Nagaland                 |                                        1 |
| 20      | Odisha                   |                                        9 |
| 21      | Puducherry               |                                        1 |
| 22      | Punjab                   |                                        6 |
| 23      | Rajasthan                |                                       25 |
| 24      | Sikkim                   |                                        1 |
| 25      | Telangana                |                                        5 |
| 26      | Tripura                  |                                        1 |
| 27      | Uttar Pradesh            |                                       49 |
|         | Grand Total              |                                      174 |

## Details of IndiaAI Data & AI labs in Andhra Pradesh:

|   S.No. | State          | Govt. ITI Address                        |
|---------|----------------|------------------------------------------|
|       1 | Andhra Pradesh | Govt. ITI, IE, Eluru                     |
|       2 | Andhra Pradesh | Govt ITI Rajamahendravaram               |
|       3 | Andhra Pradesh | Govt.ITI, Tirupati                       |
|       4 | Andhra Pradesh | Govt.ITI, Dhone                          |
|       5 | Andhra Pradesh | Govt.ITI (New), Gajuwaka, Vishakhapatnam |
|       6 | Andhra Pradesh | Government ITI, Kakinada                 |
|       7 | Andhra Pradesh | Government ITI Vijayawada                |
|       8 | Andhra Pradesh | Govt.R.ITI (Girls)Kadapa                 |
|       9 | Andhra Pradesh | Govt. ITI (Girls), Nellore               |

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