Towards the new age of AI! NITI Aayog reveals Megaplan for extensive development of AI adoption in India

New Delhi, May 20: India is a rapidly developing AI framework in several sectors for better administration and service sector. Now pushing this development towards a new era of AI (Artifical Intelligence) technology and paradigm, the NITI Aayog has crafted a new plan for an institutional framework for AI development in the country.

The Union Budget 2018-19 assigned the task to NITI Aayog to create a national program on AI.

While articulating this national program, the NITI Aayog dispersed a cabinet note in this regard, which stresses on the need of funds of Rs. 7,500 crores to set up 5 centers of research excellence (CORE), 20 international centers for transformational AI (ICAI) and the cloud computing platform ‘AIRAWAT’, which can be used by anyone.

This needed funding would be channeled into selected investments in the coming three years. Along with this, NITI Aayog also suggested the setting up of a high-level task force to oversee the overall implementation of the plan, which will be headed by NITI Aayog’s members with representatives from all ministries and states besides experts as its key members.

While developing the National Programme on AI, NITI Aayog presented the national strategic framework for AI in June 2018. Recently, the NITI Aayog’s CEO Amitabh Kant sent letters to states and ministeries requesting about identifying critical projects across 5 identified sectors where AI can be adopted.