Lok Sabha Question No. 3149 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-19
Subject: India AI Mission
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Prof. Sougata Ray

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION. NO. 3149

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 19.03.2025

## INDIA AI MISSION

## 3149. PROF. SOUGATA RAY:

Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has started India AI Mission and if so, the details thereof along with its investment;
- (b) the details of the proposals for domestic AI Foundational Models;
- (c) whether there are any proposals for including Large language Models and sector-specific small language models and if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) whether the proposals are on the basis of India-specific challenges and opportunities and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (d):Union Cabinet led by Hon'ble Prime Minister has approved the IndiaAI Mission on 7 th March 2024 ,  a  strategic  initiative  to  establish  a  robust  and  inclusive AI  ecosystem that aligns with the country's development goals.

IndiaAI Mission encompasses key pillars of the Al ecosystem including, IndiaAI Compute Capacity, IndiaAI Innovation Centre, IndiaAI  Datasets Platform, IndiaAI Application Development Initiative, IndiaAI FutureSkills, IndiaAI Startup Financing and Safe & Trusted AI.

By democratizing access to computing resources, enhancing data quality, nurturing homegrown  AI  expertise,  attracting  top  talent,  fostering  industry  partnerships,  supporting startup ventures, promoting socially impactful AI projects, and emphasizing ethical practices, the mission seeks to foster responsible and inclusive growth within India's AI landscape.

Towards this, Ministry of Electronics, and Information Technology, MeitY, has established IndiaAI Independent Business Division (IBD) under Digital India Corporation for implementing the IndiaAI mission.

The implementation of 'IndiaAI Mission' with a total outlay of Rs. 10,371.92 Cr is  for  a period of 5 years. The detailed allocation of budgetary outlay among its seven key pillars is as follows:

| Components                                 | Total Expenditure (₹ Cr)   |
|--------------------------------------------|----------------------------|
| IndiaAI Compute Capacity                   | 4563.36                    |
| IndiaAI Innovation Centre (IAIC) 1971.37   |                            |
| IndiaAI Datasets Platform                  | 199.55                     |
| IndiaAI Application Development Initiative | 689.05                     |
| IndiaAI FutureSkills                       | 882.94                     |
| IndiaAI Startup Financing 1942.5           |                            |
| Safe &Trusted AI                           | 20.46                      |

| IndiaAI Overheads and Contingency@1%   | 102.69    |
|----------------------------------------|-----------|
| Total                                  | 10,371.92 |

IndiaAI on 30 th January, 2025 had launched a Call for Proposals inviting proposals from startups, researchers, and entrepreneurs to collaborate on building state-of-the-art foundational  AI  models  trained  on  Indian  datasets .  The  initiative  aims  to  establish indigenous AI models that align with  global  standards while addressing unique challenges and opportunities within the Indian context.

In the first month, IndiaAI Mission has received a total of 67 proposals till 15 th February aimed  at  building  India's  foundation  models,  with  contributions  from  both  established startups  and  new  teams  of  researchers  &  academia.  22  are  focused  on  Large  Language Models (LLMs) & Large Multimodal Models (LMMs), while the remaining 45 are centered on  domain-specific  models  (SLMs).  The  majority  of  SLMs  target  key  sectors  such  as healthcare,  education,  and  financial  services.  Along  with  funding  support,  a  wide  range  of GPUs have been requested by teams submitting these proposals.

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