**Executive Summary**
On July 15, 2026, the Digital India BHASHINI Division (DIBD) and Punjab National Bank (PNB) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to advance multilingual AI for inclusive banking. The partnership aims to integrate BHASHINI’s indigenous AI ecosystem into PNB’s digital platforms to provide citizen-centric financial services in preferred Indian languages. This initiative focuses on removing language barriers to strengthen customer engagement and support India's vision of inclusive Digital Public Infrastructure.
**Key Points / Main Content**
**Core Objectives and Initiative**
* Collaboration focuses on the "BHASHINI for Seva/Sanchalan" initiative to advance multilingual AI solutions.
* The partnership integrates AI-powered language technologies across PNB's digital banking ecosystem.
* The primary goal is to enable language-inclusive banking, making services more accessible and intuitive for customers.
**Scope of Technical Collaboration**
* Integration will occur across BHASHINI platforms, including Udyat, Mitra, AppMitra, Pravakta, and Bhashadaan.
* The project will utilize BHASHINI's language translation APIs and reference applications.
* Stakeholders will develop domain-specific language models and specialized banking glossaries.
* AI-powered tools will be used to strengthen multilingual communication and documentation.
**Strategic Vision and Sector Impact**
* The initiative promotes a "voice-first" multilingual banking system where all stakeholder interactions are inclusive.
* The collaboration seeks to encourage linguistic data contribution for the continuous improvement of language technologies.
* The partnership is expected to accelerate the adoption of multilingual AI across the broader banking sector and foster innovation in financial services.
* DIBD currently supports 36 Indian text languages and 23 Indian voice languages, powering over 800 government websites.
**Impact Analysis**
**Customers and Citizens**
**Impact**
Customers gain the ability to access banking information and services in their preferred Indian languages, reducing barriers to essential financial services and improving the overall user experience.
**Action Required**
Engage with new multilingual digital banking platforms and utilize voice-first or text-based language tools for financial transactions.
**Punjab National Bank (PNB)**
**Impact**
PNB will strengthen customer engagement and expand its reach across diverse linguistic communities, contributing to the government's vision of inclusive Digital Public Infrastructure.
**Action Required**
Integrate BHASHINI’s AI capabilities and APIs across digital channels and contribute linguistic data for the improvement of banking-specific language models.
**Digital India BHASHINI Division (DIBD)**
**Impact**
DIBD advances its mission of AI-driven multilingual digital inclusion and validates its technology within the financial services sector.
**Action Required**
Provide technical support, reference applications, and language models to PNB while facilitating research and open innovation through the partnership.
Key Entities Referenced
Digital India BHASHINI Division (DIBD): A division under the Digital India Corporation responsible for driving AI-powered multilingual digital inclusion and the primary party in the MoU.
Punjab National Bank (PNB): The public sector bank partnering to integrate multilingual AI technologies across its digital banking channels to enhance financial inclusion.
BHASHINI: India's national initiative for AI-driven multilingual digital inclusion, providing the indigenous ecosystem for language-inclusive banking services.
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY): The nodal ministry overseeing the Digital India BHASHINI Division and the broader national digital transformation agenda.
National Hub for Language Technology (NHLT): A specific technical hub under BHASHINI that powers AI inferences and supports multiple Indian and international languages for digital services.
Ministry of Electronics & IT
Digital India BHASHINI Division (DIBD) and
Punjab National Bank (PNB) Sign MoU to
Advance Multilingual AI for Inclusive Banking
Partnership to Enable AI-Powered Multilingual Banking and
Citizen-Centric Financial Services
प्रव तथ: 15 JUL 2026 5:54PM by PIB Delhi
The Digital India BHASHINI Division (DIBD), under the Digital India Corporation (DIC), Ministry of
Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India, and Punjab National Bank (PNB),
have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on advancing multilingual AI
solutions for inclusive banking and citizen-centric financial services through the BHASHINI for
Seva/Sanchalan initiative.
The MoU was signed by Shri Amitabh Nag, CEO, Digital India BHASHINI Division, and Shri Atish
Kumar Rout, Chief General Manager (Digital), Digital Banking Transformation Division, Punjab National
Bank.
The collaboration aims to leverage BHASHINI's indigenous multilingual AI ecosystem to enable
language-inclusive banking services by integrating AI-powered language technologies across PNB's
digital banking ecosystem. Through this partnership, customers will be able to access bankinginformation, digital platforms and services in their preferred Indian languages, making banking more
accessible, intuitive and inclusive while enhancing customer experience and supporting financial
inclusion.
Under the MoU, both organisations will collaborate across BHASHINI Udyat, Mitra, AppMitra, Pravakta
and Bhashadaan to integrate multilingual AI capabilities into PNB's digital platforms and services. The
partnership will facilitate multilingual access to banking services through BHASHINI's language
translation APIs and reference applications, develop domain-specific language models and banking
glossaries, strengthen multilingual communication and documentation using AI-powered language tools,
encourage linguistic data contribution for continuous improvement of language technologies, and promote
wider awareness and adoption of multilingual digital banking solutions.
The collaboration will also support the integration of BHASHINI's language technologies across PNB's
digital channels, enabling seamless multilingual interactions between customers and banking services. By
reducing language barriers and improving access to digital financial services, the partnership aims to
strengthen customer engagement, expand the reach of banking services across diverse linguistic
communities, and contribute to the Government of India's vision of inclusive Digital Public Infrastructure.
The partnership is expected to accelerate the adoption of multilingual AI across the banking sector, foster
innovation in AI-enabled financial services, and support the development of accessible, citizen-centric
digital banking that empowers every customer to engage confidently in their language of choice.
Shri M. Paramasivam, ED, Punjab National Bank said- "The collaboration between BHASHINI and
Punjab National Bank demonstrates how Digital Public Infrastructure can accelerate inclusive digital
transformation across sectors. By combining multilingual AI with public service delivery, this initiative
will help bridge language barriers and ensure that digital banking services are more accessible, equitable,
and citizen-friendly for people across the country."
Shri Amitabh Nag, CEO, Digital India BHASHINI Division, said- "Language should never be a barrier to
accessing essential banking services. Through this partnership with Punjab National Bank, we are
advancing BHASHINI's vision of a voice-first multilingual banking system, where every stakeholder
interaction is multilingual and voice-first. By integrating BHASHINI's AI-powered language technologies
into the banking ecosystem, we are taking another significant step towards building an inclusive DigitalPublic Infrastructure that enables citizens to seamlessly access financial services in their preferred Indian
language. This collaboration reinforces our commitment to making digital banking more intuitive,
inclusive, and citizen-centric."
Shri Atish Kumar Rout, Chief General Manager (Digital), Digital Banking Transformation Division,
Punjab National Bank, said- "Punjab National Bank remains committed to delivering accessible, secure,
and customer-centric digital banking services. Our collaboration with the Digital India BHASHINI
Division will enable us to leverage cutting-edge multilingual AI technologies, making our digital
platforms more inclusive and easier to use for customers across diverse linguistic backgrounds."
About Digital India BHASHINI Division (DIBD)
The Digital India BHASHINI Division (DIBD), under Digital India Corporation (DIC), MeitY, is India's
national initiative for AI-driven multilingual digital inclusion. Through the National Hub for Language
Technology (NHLT), BHASHINI powers 800+ government websites, has enabled 8+ billion AI
inferences, processes 20+ million AI inferences daily, and supports 36 Indian text languages, 23 Indian
voice languages, and 35 international languages. DIBD also advances multilingual AI through research,
open innovation, datasets, startups and academic collaboration, strengthening India's Digital Public
Infrastructure (DPI).
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इस वज्ञ को इन भाषाओ ंम पढ़: Urdu , ही , Marathi , Punjabi , Tamil