India AI Mission 2.0 to offer AI suite for MSMEs; Vaishnaw calls it 'UPI of AI'
IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw recently promised a "much larger-scale" second edition of the India AI Mission, which he said is in the works.
The next phase of the India AI Mission will bring a bouquet of artificial intelligence solutions for MSMEs and users in the healthcare and education space, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, likening it to the "UPI of AI".
The flagship India AI Mission is building out the country's own AI ecosystem, from computing to talent and real-world use cases, and Vaishnaw recently promised a "much larger-scale" second edition of the India AI Mission, which he said is in the works.
The Minister said that the next phase of the India AI Mission will have a lot to offer to the country's MSMEs.
"We will be creating a bouquet of solutions which are trusted solutions, which have been tested on security, on all possible parameters, then we will present those solutions (just) like UPI, where the bouquet of solutions is available to the world for using it and building on top of it," he said terming it as "AI kaa UPI" or UPI of AI.
The bouquet will have a series of solutions that MSMEs can use to enhance productivity and efficiency.
The Minister said that doctors in rural areas will be able to leverage this bouquet of AI solutions to deliver better healthcare services, while teachers would be able to harness them to enhance the quality of education.
"We will provide it in India AI Mission 2.0, through a UPI-type platform," Vaishnaw said.
The IndiaAI Mission was approved by the Union Cabinet in 2024 with a financial outlay of over Rs 10,000 crore to build a comprehensive AI ecosystem in the country. The initiative rests on multiple pillars, including the creation of high-end compute infrastructure through public-private partnerships, development of indigenous foundation models trained on Indian datasets, expansion of AI research and innovation centres, and large-scale skilling programmes aimed at students, startups, and government officials.
A key focus area is enabling startups and MSMEs with access to affordable GPUs, datasets and testing environments, thereby lowering entry barriers to advanced AI development. The mission also emphasises responsible and ethical AI deployment, including safety testing, data governance frameworks, and alignment with India’s digital public infrastructure strategy.
(With inputs from PTI)