The government of India has announced the establishment of three AI centers of excellence (CoE) focused on healthcare, agriculture, and sustainable cities in New Delhi.
Announcing the move, Union minister for education Dharmendra Pradhan, presented a sapling and a Plaque to the representatives of AIIMS and IIT Delhi, IIT Ropar, and IIT Kanpur, which will lead the CoEs, for their commitments and support. Apex committee members of the centers explained the scope and extent of the projects.
Secretary, department of higher education K Sanjay Murthy; co-chair of the apex committee and founder and CEO of Zoho Corporation Sridhar Vembu; chairman of the National Educational Technology Forum Anil Sahasrabudhe; MD, PeakXV Partners and Surge Rajan Anandan; CEO, Khosla Labs Srikanth Nadhamuni; head, Cropin AI Labs Praveen Pankajakshan; senior officials from various ministries, directors of IITs, heads of higher educational institutions (HEIs), industry leaders, and start-up founders were also present at the event.
Pradhan hoped the three AI-CoEs would emerge as temples of global public good. With the unveiling of the centers, strides have been taken to strengthen India’s credentials in the global AI landscape, he added. Pradhan said these centers will be a key element of global public policy and also emerge as solution providers of the world. He complimented the apex committee led by Sridhar Vembu for their meticulous and sincere efforts towards the implementation of these COEs in AI in the top academic institutions of the country.
Murthy highlighted that these CoEs are not just institution-based but are designed to serve the entire country. Stressing the importance of interdisciplinary research, he said with the right kind of collaboration among like-minded resources, optimum results can be achieved. He said the competitive-based challenge methods developed in educational institutions have ensured progress toward resolving common problems.
Vembu explained how these projects will holistically benefit the health of villages, cities, and the people of the country. He emphasized the importance of nurturing the country’s talent pool to ensure its members flourish and serve the nation in the coming 10 to 20 years. He said the centers will bootstrap numerous efforts, create companies, nurture talent, and generate opportunities for our talent pool.
The genesis, implementation and insights into development so far in the AI-CoE was presented by Saumya Gupta joint secretary, department of higher education, ministry of education. A short film on the theme, Make AI in India and Make Al work for India, was also shown during the event.
These three CoEs for artificial intelligence (AI) will be led by top educational institutions, in consortium with industry partners and startups. They will conduct interdisciplinary research, develop cutting-edge applications, and create scalable solutions in these three areas. This initiative aims to galvanize an effective AI ecosystem and nurture quality human resources in these critical fields.
As part of the vision to ‘Make AI in India and Make AI work for India,’ the establishment of these centers was announced under Para 60 of the Budget Announcement for 2023-24. In alignment with this, the government approved the creation of the three AI centers of excellence, with a total financial outlay of Rs 990.00 crore over the period of FY 2023-24 to FY 2027-28.
To oversee the implementation of this initiative, an industry-heavy apex committee has been constituted, co-chaired by Sridhar Vembu.
