Lok Sabha Question No. 594 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-06
Subject: Uses of AI
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: P. Velusamy

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 594

TO BE ANSWERED ON:  06.12.2023

## USES OF AI

## 594: SHRI VELUSAMY P:

Will the Minister of Electronics and Information Technology be pleased to state:

- (a) whether there is any proposal to regulate the usage of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and allied technologies by the Government and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the steps taken by the Government to encourage the usage of AI and its tools to bring in efficiency in governance;
- (c) the  manner in  which the Government  envisages  to keep the usage of AI and allied technologies safe for the citizens; and
- (d) whether there is a proposal to bring a law to regulate AI and allied technologies and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAJEEV CHANDRASEKHAR)

(a), (c) and(d):The policies of the Government are aimed at ensuring an Open, Safe, Trusted and  Accountable  Internet  for  all  Digital  Nagriks.  Artificial  Intelligence  is  the  greatest invention in recent times and the Government expects artificial intelligence to be a kinetic enabler of India's fastgrowing digital and innovation economy. The Government wants that AI is available with safety and trust for all our digital nagriks and to avoid the negative use of AI. Government has received various suggestions about regulating user harms caused by emerging technologies. However, the Government is fully cognizant of this and has already established a framework for regulating user harms through the IT Act in May, 2021 and advanced it with amended IT rules in October 2022 and April 2023.

(b):To  develop a robust, safe and  trusted AI  innovation ecosystem  in the country, Government is taking all necessary steps in policies and infrastructure.

The following are the details:

- i. The Government has constituted 7 expert groups to deliberate and prepare a design document on IndiaAI. The first edition of IndiaAIexpert group reportdetailed out the operational  aspects  of  establishing  Centers  of  Excellence  (CoEs)  on  AI,  and  the institutional  framework  on  governing  data  collection,  management,  processing  and storage  by  the  National  Data  Management  Office  (NDMO).  The  report  also recommends  on  how  India  can  leverage  its  demographic  dividend  and  play  to  its strengths  as  an  IT  superpower  to  further  the  penetration  of  IndiaAI  skills  in  the country, strengthening the IndiaAI compute infrastructure in India to support IndiaAI innovation  through  public-private  partnerships  (PPPs).The  copy  of  the  report  is available at MeitY website.
- ii. Government  has  published  the  National  Strategy  for  Artificial  Intelligence  in  June 2018 and proposes to develop an ecosystem for the research and adoption of Artificial Intelligence i.e. #AI for ALL.
- iii. MeitY  has  established  Centres  of  Excellence  in  various  emerging  technologies including  Artificial  Intelligence  to  explore  opportunities  in  these  specialized  fields. These centres provide start-ups with premium plug-and-play co-working spaces and access to the ecosystem.
- iv. MeitY has launched the "National AI Portal" (https://indiaai.gov.in/) which serves as a  comprehensive repository of Artificial  Intelligence  (AI) initiatives  in  the  country. The portal acts as a single point of reference for individuals, researchers, and industry
5. professionals  seeking  information  about  AI  initiatives  in  India,  including  academic research, startups, policy initiatives, and other related information.
- v. India is a founding member of Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI), having joined the multi-stakeholder initiative on June 15, 2020. India has won more than two-thirds of first preference votes and has been entrusted with the responsibility of  incoming  council  chair  of  theGPAI  in  November  2022.GPAI  is  an  international and multi-stakeholder initiative to guide the responsible development and use of AI, grounded in human rights, inclusion, diversity, innovation, and economic growth.
- vi. Research :  Department  of  Science  &  Technology  is  implementing  the  National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS) to promote R&D, Human Resource Development (HRD), Technology Development, Entrepreneurship Development, International Collaboration etc. As part of this Mission 25 Technology Innovation Hubs (TIHs) in advanced technologies have been established in reputed institutes  across  the  country.  The  TIHs  at  IIT  Kharagpur,  IIIT  Hyderabad  and  IIT BHU are working towards Artificial Intelligence and Data Science.

## vii. Expertise & Skilling:

- a) MeitY  has  initiated  'FutureSkills  PRIME'  a  programme  for  Re-skilling/Upskilling  of  IT  Manpower  for  Employability  in  10  new/emerging  technologies. These  include  AI,  Blockchain,  Robotics,  Big  Data  &  Analytics,  IoT,  Virtual Reality, Cybersecurity, Cloud Computing, 3D Printing and Web 3.0.
- b) Government  has  initiated  'Visvesvaraya  PhD  Scheme'  with  the  objective  to enhance  the  number  of  PhDs  in  Electronics  System  Design  &  Manufacturing (ESDM)  and  IT/IT  Enabled  Services (IT/ITES) sectors including AI and Emerging Technologies.
- c) Government has launched Responsible AI for Youth 2022, on July 30, 2022. The Programme was designed to reach out to students from Government schools on pan  India  basis  and  provide  them  with  an  opportunity  to  become  part  of  the skilled  workforce  in  an  inclusive  manner.  The  programme  impacted  52,628 students across 35 States and UTs, empowering youth with necessary AI skillsets, who had limited or no access to the latest technologies and resources.
- d) National e-Governance  Division (NeGD),  MeitY  in collaboration with its partners, has launched 'YUVAi: Youth for Unnati and Vikas with AI'- A National Programme  for  School  Students  with  the  objective  of  enabling  school  students from classes 8 th to 12 th with AI tech and social skills in an inclusive manner. The programme will provide  a  platform  for  youth  to  learn  and  apply  AI  skills  in  8 thematic areas- Krishi, Aarogya, Shiksha, Paryavaran, Parivahan, Grameen Vikas, Smart Cities and Vidhi aur Nyaay.

## viii. Infrastructure:

- a) MeitY along with CDAC has also initiated a Proof-of-Concept (PoC) project on AIRAWAT (AI Research, Analytics and Knowledge Dissemination Platform) for providing a common  compute platform for AI research and knowledge assimilation.  This  AI  Computing  infrastructure  will  be  used  by  all  Technology innovation hubs, Research Labs, Scientific Communities, Industry, and Start-Ups institutions  with  National  Knowledge  Network.  The  PoC  for  AIRAWAT  is developed with 200 petaflops Mix Precision AI Machine which will be scalable to a peak compute of One AI Exaflop.
- b) NIC has setup a Centre of Excellence in AI which is involved in facilitating AI as a  Service  through  on  Meghraj  cloud  with  7  AI  PFlopssupercompute  facility created at Delhi and 5 AI PFlop in Kolkata.