NITI Aayog begins Funding for AI – Allocates ₹7500 Crore

The NITI Aayog has taken up the task of funding artificial intelligence by circulating a letter, which is currently placed before the Expenditure Finance Committee. The goal of the funding is to develop a cloud platform called AIRAWAT that could support existing research and development taking place within India. The goal of the funding is to develop a high-level task force that can stimulate the development of AI within India and enhance the growth that is projected within the industry in the coming years. This initial amount of ₹7500 crore will be provided over a span of three years. They expect a set of 5 institutions along with 20 international centers, alongside a cloud computation platform. These will be done in partnership with existing institutions.

This comes following the Union Budget where for the first time India saw a specific amount dedicated towards AI, also reported by AI Policy.

The NITI Aayog has aggressively pursued development of AI. Having already signed multiple agreements with different organizations, including, Nvidia and Google, this comes as no surprise. Much can be expected in the near future.