Andhra Pradesh leads India with over 1 lakh AI certifications

Andhra Pradesh has recorded 1,08,895 candidates certified in Artificial Intelligence and Big Data Analytics under the Centre's FutureSkills PRIME programme, the highest of any state. The more telling number is what sits behind it: those certifications came out of 1,53,783 candidates enrolled or trained over the past three years, a completion rate of roughly 71%.

The figures come from a written reply furnished by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) in the Lok Sabha on 12 August, in response to a question on AI skill development and capacity building. Minister of State for Electronics and IT Jitin Prasada provided the state-wise breakdown. The Andhra Pradesh government highlighted the numbers in a press release on Sunday, framing them within Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu's technology-led agenda for the state.

What the state-wise data shows

Most skilling programmes are reported through registration counts. The AI and BDA table is useful because it separates enrolment from completion, and Andhra Pradesh leads on both.

Cumulatively, more than 2.13 lakh candidates in the state have been enrolled or trained in AI and Big Data Analytics since the programme began, a wider figure than the 1.53 lakh recorded specifically over the last three years. Across all emerging technology domains under FutureSkills PRIME, Andhra Pradesh accounts for more than 4.34 lakh candidates enrolled or trained. Those domains include AI, Big Data Analytics, the Internet of Things, cybersecurity, blockchain, and augmented and virtual reality.

The spread between states is wide. In the same three-year window covered by the MeitY reply, Jammu and Kashmir recorded 786 candidates enrolled or trained in AI and BDA, of whom 416 were certified. Andhra Pradesh's certified count alone is more than 130 times that number.

The national picture

FutureSkills PRIME is a MeitY initiative implemented with NASSCOM, offering industry-aligned courses that are updated in consultation with employers. Nationally, the platform has recorded more than 34 lakh registrations, over 23 lakh candidates enrolled or trained, and more than 13 lakh who have completed training or received certification.

About 86% of participants come from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, which makes the programme one of the few large digital skilling efforts whose centre of gravity sits outside Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, and the NCR.

The infrastructure layer

The same parliamentary reply set out the training capacity being built alongside the online platform. Twenty-two C-DAC and NIELIT centres have been designated Lead and Co-Lead Resource Centres for ten emerging technologies. Together they have trained more than 32,000 government officials, including 5,821 in AI and Big Data Analytics, along with 2,367 trainers and over 40,400 candidates through more than 420 bootcamps.

Under the IndiaAI FutureSkills pillar, 27 IndiaAI Data Labs have been set up at NIELIT centres, where 6,051 candidates have been trained. A further 543 labs have been identified for ITIs and polytechnics, which would push hands on AI training into the vocational education system rather than keeping it inside engineering colleges.

From certification to employment

The state government's release positions the talent pool as an input to investment, pointing to Visakhapatnam's development as a technology and AI hub and Amaravati's build out as a technology-driven capital.

That link is not automatic. Neither the MeitY reply nor the state release publishes placement or wage data for certified candidates, so the number of people who have converted a FutureSkills PRIME certificate into an AI or data role is not currently in the public record. Employability outcomes are what would turn a skilling statistic into an economic one, and they are the obvious next disclosure to ask for.

What the data does establish is scale and follow through. A 71% completion rate across more than 1.5 lakh candidates is a functioning pipeline, not a registration drive. Whether it becomes a hiring advantage for Andhra Pradesh depends on demand showing up in Visakhapatnam and Amaravati at something close to the same order of magnitude.