Lok Sabha Question No. 2622 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-09
Subject: Collaborations through AI Centres of Excellence (AI-CoEs)
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Dr. Byreddy Shabari

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2622 ANSWERED ON- 09/03/2026

## Collaborations through AI Centres of Excellence (AI-CoEs)

2622.  Dr. Byreddy Shabari:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of collaborations undertaken by AI Centres of Excellence (AI-COEs) with academic institutions, industry partners and start-ups, including those located in the State of Andhra Pradesh;
- (b)  the  list  of  universities,  industry  partners  and  start-ups  with  which  the  AI-COEs have entered into formal collaborations along with the nature, scope and duration of such partnerships; (c)  the  details  of  projects  undertaken  under  such  collaborations,  including  their objectives,  sectoral  focus  such  as  agriculture,  health,  logistics,  etc.,  timelines  and implementing agencies; (d) the outcomes achieved from such collaborations, including solutions developed, prototypes tested, capacity building, deployments completed and measurable impact thereof; (e) the details of fund provided by the Government along with contributions made by partner, project-wise; and (f)  the  monitoring  and  evaluation  mechanism  adopted  by  the  Government  for assessing  the  performance  of  AI-COEs  and  the  key  policy  learnings  derived
- therefrom?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR)

(a)  to  (f): The  Government  of  India  has  established  four  Centres  of  Excellence (CoEs)  in  Artificial  Intelligence  (AI)  as  part  of  the  vision  to  "Make  AI  in  India  and Make AI work for India" in the areas of Education, Healthcare, Sustainable Cities and Agriculture. These AI-CoEs are being led by IIT Madras, IISc Bangalore, IIT Kanpur and  IIT  Ropar  respectively.  The  total  budget  outlay  for  the  four  AI-CoEs  is  1490 crores.

Each AI-CoE is a consortium of leading academic, research institutions along with industry  partners  and  leading  start-ups.  AI-CoEs  represent  a  collaborative  effort between the lead institute and other academic institutions such as AIIMS Delhi and Patna,  IITs  at  Delhi,  Madras,  Bombay,  Guwahati,  Hyderabad,  Gandhinagar  and

Tirupati; NITs at Calicut, Meghalaya, and Hamirpur; IIIT Hyderabad; etc. These CoEs have undertaken strategic initiatives aligned with their sectoral focus. The AI-CoE for Sustainable Cities has initiated AI-based traffic and flood prediction. Further, a Digital platform has been piloted to streamline municipal services and to integrate  citizen  feedback,  service  requests,  and  urban  management  into  one system. Under the AI-CoE for Healthcare, projects have been initiated to develop AI tools on the detection of various chronic diseases like oral and breast cancer, retinal disease and diabetes. The AI-CoE for Agriculture has deployed Automatic Weather Stations. An  Apex  Committee; consisting of industry leaders, researchers and senior government officials; conducts periodical review and evaluation of the AI-CoEs. It is supported  by  a  Central  Project  Monitoring  Unit  with  the  help  of  leading  external experts working at the intersection of AI and the respective domain of each CoE. The CPMU  and  the  experts carryout quarterly assessment  of each project and recommend course correction.

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