The IndiaAI Mission has announced that it has received around 67 proposals for developing indigenous AI models.
According to a PIB release, out of total proposals, 22 are focused on foundational models such as Large Language Models (LLMs) and Large Multimodal Models (LMMs) and 45 on domain-specific Small Language Models (SLMs) targeting sectors like healthcare, education, and finance.
The proposals were submitted in response to a Call for Proposals issued in January by the IndiaAI Innovation Centre (IAIC), which invited startups and researchers to develop AI models trained on Indian datasets.
IndiaAI is also establishing Srijan—a Center for Generative AI at IIT Jodhpur in collaboration with Meta. In addition, it has launched “YuvAi Initiative for Skilling and Capacity Building” in collaboration with the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), to further push the development of open source AI in India.
It added that the partnership will fuel development of indigenous AI applications, advance skill development in AI, and enhance research capabilities.
“Through education, capacity building, and policy advisory, the Government of India will be empowering the next generation of researchers, students, and practitioners with the knowledge and tools necessary for the responsible development and deployment of GenAI technologies,” reads a PIB release.
In February, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Union Budget included a Rs 500 crore allocation for a Centre of Excellence (CoE) focused specifically on AI for education. The Budget also included a parallel launch of 50,000 Atal Tinkering Labs in government schools over the next five years.
YourStory previously reported how several industry experts view this comprehensive approach as addressing a critical need in India’s AI ecosystem—bridging the gap between theoretical research and practical implementation in education.
The Government of India, in collaboration with MeitY, has also implemented the Digital India Bhashini initiative to provide AI-driven language solutions through the Bhashini platform for all 22 Scheduled Indian Languages, including Marathi.
The platform facilitates voice-based access and supports content creation in Indian languages. Digital India Bhashini aims to develop speech-to-speech machine translation systems for various Indian languages and dialects while establishing a Unified Language Interface (ULI).
By collaborating with over 70 research institutes, Bhashini has led to the development of advanced language AI models, hosting over 350 AI-based tools, including Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR), Machine Translation (MT), Text-to-Speech (TTS), Optical Character Recognition (OCR), and services such as Transliteration and Textual Language Detection, covering more than 17 language services.
