India to Create Local LLMs Under IndiaAI Mission
The IndiaAI Mission has received nearly 200 proposals for building foundational AI models trained on Indian datasets, languages, and contexts.
Additional secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Abhishek Singh, stated that, “Given that we have almost 200 proposals of building foundation models, and the kind of capability which is there, and the funding ability that is there with the Government of India, I'm sure very soon we will have an Indian foundation model,” at India’s first Nano Electronics Roadshow in Bengaluru on March 27.
Earlier, Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced India’s aim to develop its Large Language Model (LLM), designed specifically to meet the country’s needs. Thereafter, the Indian government, on February 11, allocated Rs 1,500 crores under the IndiaAI Mission to support this development.
On March 6th, MeitY, launched AI Kosha, a non-personal datasets platform, along with the GPU access portal under the IndiaAI Mission.
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Additionally, the ministry launched the IndiaAI Compute Portal, which will allow startups and researchers to access graphics processing units (GPUs) procured under the IndiaAI Mission.
The government issued a call for proposals on January 30. By February 15th, 67 applications were received, and by March 15th, an additional 120 proposals had been submitted, totaling nearly 200. Singh added that the response reflects the strength of India’s startup and research ecosystem. We are very close to finalizing the proposals that will be funded under the model. Singh highlighted that while India’s AI talent is ready, one of the key bottlenecks has been the non-availability of computational infrastructure, which is being addressed under the IndiaAI Mission.