The Silicon Review ^Asia

The NITI Aayog, in its recent move to create an institutional framework for AI in India, has circulated a cabinet note asking for Rs 7,500 crore in funding. The funding will be channelised to create research institutes and a cloud computing platform, AIRAWAT. As mentioned by a senior government official, the circulated note will soon be considered by the Expenditure Finance Committee. In addition to that, according to the note, the government will have to offer the amount over a period of three years and set up a high-level taskforce to oversee the roll-out and implementation of AI.

Regarding the selection of institutes and partners, the official said that a few guidelines are being developed based on which the selection will be done and the funding for all of this will depend on the achieved milestones. A member of the NITI Aayog will head the task force assigned for monitoring the complete AI mission. Amitabh Kant, CEO of the NITI Aayog has already made a written request to all states and ministries asking to identify key projects across five sectors which will be greatly benefited from AI implementation.

The government is now looking forward to make India a suitable place for emerging economies when it comes to AI and is quite sure of the capability that AI holds to deal with some of the key challenges in areas such as health, education, urbanisation, agriculture, mobility, etc. Estimates too have suggested that AI can potentially add $957 billion to India’s GDP in a few years and offer a boost to the country’s annual growth by 1.3 percent.