Centre To Launch India AI Programme Soon, Says MoS Rajeev Chandrasekhar

The Centre will soon launch the India AI programme to encourage use of artificial intelligence by Indian startups to solve problems, union minister of state for electronics and information technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar said.

Speaking at the Nasscom Future Forge event, Chandrasekhar said, “The India AI programme will be a very well-funded, conceived and architected programme. It will take the focus of our startup ecosystem on real-life use cases in agriculture, security and governance.”

Quoting sources, Business Standard reported that the programme will be launched on December 11. India is set to host a three-day AI summit from December 12 to 14 in New Delhi.

Chandrasekhar also emphasised the importance of deeptech in driving the next phase of growth in India’s startup ecosystem and innovation. He said the digital economy’s contribution to the GDP has grown from 4.5%-5% in 2014 to 11.5% today, with a projected increase to 20% by 2026.

Earlier this month, while speaking at the AI Safety Summit 2023, Chandrasekhar said that a consensus on the do’s and don’ts of AI among democratic nations must be reached to ensure that the countries are not left playing catch-up in a rapidly evolving world of innovation.

In July this year, India AI, an independent business unit (IBU) under the Digital India Corporation, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with social media giant Meta to foster collaboration in the fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies. 

In October, MeitY signed three MoUs with tech giant IBM to accelerate innovation in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductor, and quantum technology. 

According to NITI Aayog, AI has the potential to contribute $1 trillion to India’s economy by 2035, while also creating future job opportunities. 

Meanwhile, Indian startups have also jumped on the AI bandwagon to leverage the technology to improve user experience and offer new services and features. Flipkart, Swiggy, and ixigo are among the Indian startups that have started using AI.

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