Shaping AI’s Future: India’s Global and Domestic AI Vision
The AI4India Weekly #40
India is making bold strides in AI, both on the global stage and at home. At the recent Paris AI Action Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi positioned India as a key player in shaping AI governance, emphasizing a growth-first approach while addressing concerns about sustainability. Meanwhile, the IndiaAI Mission continues to strengthen the country’s AI ecosystem through projects like BharatGen, an ambitious initiative to develop India’s first non-profit, population-scale LLM. Alongside these advancements, the #DataDaan campaign is gaining momentum, inviting data contributions to fuel AI innovation in India. This edition explores how these initiatives are shaping India's AI journey, from global diplomacy to homegrown technological breakthroughs.
AI for a Viksit Bharat: India’s Strategic AI Diplomacy
India’s leadership in artificial intelligence (AI) took center stage at the recent Paris AI Action Summit, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid out a compelling vision for India’s role in the global AI ecosystem. His speech emphasized the need to prioritize AI-driven opportunities over excessive regulatory burdens, aligning India more closely with the U.S. perspective on fostering innovation. The U.S. Vice President JD Vance’s remarks reinforced this alignment, as he criticized Europe’s stringent AI regulations for potentially stifling innovation and competitiveness. However, India also resonated with European concerns on sustainability, particularly regarding the massive energy requirements of AI infrastructure. This dual approach of balancing AI growth with sustainability considerations showcased India’s strategic positioning as a middle power in global AI governance. Reflecting this growing stature, India was offered the opportunity to host the next AI Action Summit, further solidifying its influence in shaping the global AI discourse.
At the heart of India’s AI strategy is the IndiaAI Mission, which aims to develop sovereign foundational models and a robust AI compute infrastructure. The government’s focus on public-private partnerships in AI development is evident in initiatives such as BharatGen, which is working on a non-profit, population-scale Large Language Model (LLM) with cost-effective compute. Similarly, the AI for Bharat program at IIT Madras and platforms like Bhashini and Anuvadini are driving efforts in multilingual AI applications to break linguistic barriers in education, governance, and public services. These initiatives reflect India’s unique approach to AI—prioritizing affordable, inclusive, and scalable AI models that address local challenges rather than simply replicating global advancements in general-purpose AI.
India’s trajectory in AI mirrors its past technological advancements, where it has often leapfrogged traditional developmental pathways to achieve rapid transformation. Instead of merely catching up with the AI advancements of the U.S. and China, India is strategically focusing on domain-specific AI applications that can accelerate its economic and social development goals. The IndiaAI Mission’s focus on foundational models tailored to Indian needs—such as AI-driven education, healthcare, and governance solutions—aligns with the country’s broader ambition of becoming a Viksit Bharat by 2047. As India prepares to host the next AI Action Summit, it has a unique opportunity to showcase its AI advancements while shaping the global conversation on AI governance, accessibility, and sustainability.
BharatGen: India’s Cost-Effective Push for a Population-Scale LLM
The BharatGen consortium, backed by the Government of India, is spearheading the development of one of the country’s first non-profit, population-scale large language models (LLM). Led by IIT Bombay’s Chair Professor Ganesh Ramakrishnan, the initiative has been built with an investment of less than ₹235 crores, leveraging cost-efficient compute resources. Supported by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), the consortium includes premier institutions like IIT Bombay, IIT Kanpur, IIT Mandi, IIT Madras, IIIT Hyderabad, and IIM Indore. BharatGen aims to create an indigenous AI model tailored to India's linguistic and cultural diversity, ensuring greater accessibility and inclusivity in AI-driven solutions.
This development aligns closely with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent remarks at the AI Summit in Paris, where he emphasized India’s need to develop its own foundational AI models to reflect the country's unique demographic and linguistic diversity. BharatGen’s approach underscores India's commitment to fostering homegrown AI innovation while maintaining cost-effectiveness. As global AI models remain largely controlled by private entities, BharatGen’s public-backed initiative could pave the way for a more democratized AI ecosystem in India, setting a precedent for ethical and inclusive AI development.
#DataDaan - Donate for a Digital India
Aligned with the IndiaAI Mission and MeitY’s efforts to ensure the availability of AI-usable data, the #DataDaan campaign by AI4India is now live on DataDaan.org. This initiative invites individuals and organizations to contribute valuable datasets, enriching India’s AI ecosystem and driving innovation across sectors. The platform provides a streamlined process for data contribution, ensuring responsible and impactful AI development. Visit DataDaan.org to explore the initiative and be part of this transformative effort.
NOTE: The views expressed by the authors are their own. AI4India as a forum does not endorse any comments on specific brands, products, platforms or companies.
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