India to invest AI Rs 10K Cr on AI mission, boost AI innovation and adoption
The Indian government announces a Rs.10,372 crore AI mission to build computing infrastructure, support startups, train professionals, and ensure ethical AI development.
The Indian government has officially rolled out the IndiaAI Mission with a total budget outlay of Rs 10,372 crore, marking a significant investment in the country’s artificial intelligence future. The initiative, spearheaded by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), aims to strengthen India’s AI innovation capabilities, build critical compute infrastructure, and promote AI adoption across sectors.
Focus on compute power and research
A major component of the mission involves creating a scalable, high-end AI compute infrastructure equipped with more than 10,000 GPUs. This infrastructure will be made available to AI startups, academic institutions, and researchers, addressing one of the core limitations of India's AI ecosystem: lack of accessible computing resources.
In parallel, IndiaAI Innovation Centres will be set up to build indigenous foundation models and domain-specific AI applications. These models will serve as the bedrock for a variety of use cases across agriculture, healthcare, governance, and education.
Enabling startups and creating jobs
To nurture AI entrepreneurship, the mission will include targeted support schemes for startups working on AI solutions. The government plans to roll out funding support, mentorship programs, and access to testbeds to help early-stage ventures scale effectively.
Additionally, the initiative will launch the IndiaAI Datasets Platform, offering curated datasets for model training, which will further assist developers and companies in building robust AI solutions.
A national ‘FutureSkills’ program will also be introduced to reskill and upskill India’s workforce in AI and related technologies. This effort is expected to address the skill gap in the AI job market and prepare workers for roles in the emerging tech-driven economy.
The program will be implemented by the Independent Business Division under Digital India Corporation, ensuring that operational flexibility and strategic oversight are embedded into the rollout.