IndiaAI Mission Invites Startups To Build AI Facial Recognition Tool

IndiaAI Mission has invited Indian startups and companies to build a scalable AI-powered facial recognition tool to bolster integrity of public examinations. 

Part of IndiaAI Mission’s “face authentication challenge”, the project will offer a two-year contract and up to INR 1 Cr for the top two teams for final solution deployment. Another ten shortlisted teams will receive INR 5 Lakhs each to refine and test their solutions on a sample dataset.

“This solution must perform photo verification and de-duplication by cross-referencing new applications against a historical database using one-to-many matching techniques. The high volume of applications and the risk of duplicate registrations necessitate a reliable, end-to-end AI solution to ensure (a) fair, transparent and merit-based framework…,” read an official statement. 

In this context, de-duplication is the process of identifying and eliminating duplicate copies of data to ensure that only a unique instance is recorded and reducing data storage. 

A blog post on IndiaAI Mission noted that submitted solutions will be required to use facial verification algorithms. The project has two broad objectives:

• Leverage AI to strengthen the integrity of large-scale public examinations, ensuring a just, fair, and impartial merit-based selection of candidates
• Accurately identify multiple applications submitted by the same individual across a pre-defined time period
• Implement a secure, automated system that guarantees the issuance of a single, unique ID for every authorised applicant
• Solutions should have cross-sectoral applicability for deployment across various government departments and state organisations

To compete in the challenge, applicants will have to provide proof of proprietary innovation and other documents such as technical specifications, necessary certifications, and patents. Additionally, prospective candidates will also have to demonstrate relevant experience of previous engagements in the public or private sector.

The last date for the submission of applications under the project is October 25.

With an outlay of INR 10,372 Cr spanning five years, IndiaAI Mission was approved by the Union Cabinet in March last year. The mission aims to make India an AI hub, offer cutting-edge compute power to startups and research institutions, and create customised AI solutions for the country.

Under this initiative, the IT ministry had deployed more than 17,300 GPUs from providers like Hiranandani Group’s Yotta Data Services and NxtGen Cloud Technologies till June. Last month, IndiaAI Mission CEO Abhishek Singh said that the Centre plans to deploy 38,000 GPUs in total at affordable rates.

Alongside, the government also plans to set up 600 data labs across the country to accelerate research and innovation in the space of AI. Then, there is the push for an indigenous AI model.

Earlier this year, three startups – Sarvam AI, Gnani.ai, and Gan AI – were selected by IndiaAI Mission to build a homegrown large language model (LLM). The first batch of these AI models is expected to be operationalised by February 2026. 

Later on in September this year, the Centre selected another eight entities to develop foundational AI models, including the likes of Tech Mahindra, Fractal Analytics, Avataar AI, among others. 

At the heart of all this is India’s growing GenAI ecosystem, which is projected to become a $17 Bn opportunity by 2030.