AI MISSION: IT MINISTRY ALLOCATES BUDGET TO ENHANCE AI INFRASTRUCTURE

Why in the news?

  • The Ministry of Electronics and IT has received its first budget allocation of Rs 551.75 crore for the India AI Mission in the Union Budget 2024.
  • A tender will be released soon to procure 300 to 500 GPUs to help the private sector build and test AI systems, enhancing domestic computing capacity.
source: money control

Implementation Strategy

  • The government plans to implement the computing infrastructure through a public-private partnership model, providing 50% viability gap funding.
  • An India AI Innovation Research Centre will be set up, with a focus on developing and deploying large foundational models, supported by Rs 2,000 crore. Additionally, 4,000 BTech, 400 MTech, and 600 PhD candidates will receive financial support to specialize in AI.
About India’s AI Mission

Overview

  • Announced by the PM of India at the GPAI Summit 2023 in New Delhi.
  • Implemented by the ‘IndiaAI’ Independent Business Division (IBD) under the Digital India Corporation (DIC) and the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY).

Key Objectives

  • Computing Capacity: Establish over 10,000 GPUs to support AI development.
  • Foundational Models: Develop models trained on datasets covering major Indian languages for sectors like healthcare, agriculture, and governance.

Implementation Strategy

  • AI Curation Units (ACUs): Developed in 50-line ministries.
  • AI Marketplace: Offer AI as a service and pre-trained models for AI applications.
  • Public-Private Partnership: Implement AI infrastructure with 50% viability gap funding.
  • Budget Allocation: Rs 4,564 crore earmarked for computing infrastructure from a total outlay of Rs 10,372 crore.

Associated Article:

https://universalinstitutions.com/indias-rs-10000-cr-ai-mission/