Parliament Question: Roadmap for IndiaAI Mission

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2470 TO BE ANSWERED ON: 13.03.2026 ROADMAP FOR INDIAAI MISSION 2470. SHRI PARIMAL NATHWANI: Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state: (a) the comprehensive roadmap developed by Government for IndiaAI Mission across the five layers, namely, application, model, chip, infrastructure and energy; (b) the status of development of sovereign Artificial Intelligence (AI) models tailored for Indian languages and use cases such as BharatGen; (c) the progress made in establishing indigenous chip manufacturing capabilities, augmentation of GPU capacity and data center infrastructure; and (d) the steps taken to ensure a sustainable green energy supply for the power-intensive AI infrastructure? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI JITIN PRASADA) (a) to (d): The Government is developing the Artificial Intelligence (AI) ecosystem in the country, covering key layers viz. applications, AI models, compute, infrastructure, and energy. IndiaAI Mission was launched in March 2024 to build a robust and inclusive AI ecosystem by focusing on development of applications, foundational models, datasets, compute infrastructure, innovation support and talent development. Application layer Government is promoting the widespread adoption of AI applications across sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, education etc. AI-based solutions are already delivering impact through applications such as AI-based sowing advisories for farmers, and AI-enabled medical diagnostics for early detection of diseases etc. The IndiaAI Mission is also supporting the development of 30 India-specific AI applications to accelerate large-scale AI adoption and deliver real-world benefits to citizens. Model layer Under this layer, the Government is supporting the development of indigenous foundational AI models. In the first phase, twelve organisations and consortia have been selected to develop sovereign AI models.As AI evolves, smaller and specialised models are expected to drive practical applications, and several such models are being developed in India. Models developed by Sarvam AI, BharatGen and Gnani were launched during the IndiaAI Impact Summit 2026. These models have shown strong performance on Indic language benchmarks, and in some cases perform better than leading frontier models on specific tasks. Models developed by Sarvam AI have demonstrated relatively high accuracy in document understanding and Indic language processing. BharatGen, led by the IIT Bombay consortium, has developed Param2 AI model. It supports 22 Indian languages, with strong capabilities in coding, mathematics and reasoning. Compute layer Compute is required for training and inference, powered by advanced processors such as GPUs, TPUs and other server-grade chips. Under the IndiaAI Mission, researchers, startups and academia are getting access to over 38,000 GPUs. These are offered at a subsidised average rate of ₹65 per hour, which is about one-third of the global average cost. Under the Semicon India Programme, ten semiconductor projects have been approved, including two fabrication units and eight ATMP facilities. These facilities will ultimately strengthen the India’s chip development capacity and support future AI infra needs. Infrastructure layer Government is developing the data centre and digital infrastructure ecosystem required to support large-scale AI deployment. Union Budget 2026-27’s proposal of granting Tax holiday till 2047 to companies providing cloud services globally by using data centres from India, is a step in this direction. AI Impact Summit 2026 also witnessed announcements of investment commitments exceeding $USD 250 Billion across the AI value chain comprising of infrastructure, foundation models, hardware, and applications. Global venture capital firms have also pledged multi-billion-dollar investments to support AI innovation and large-scale training initiatives reaching tens of millions of public servants and students. Energy layer Data centres and AI infrastructure require significant and reliable power supply. The Government is working to ensure the availability of sustainable and reliable energy to support this growing demand. The government recognises that nuclear energy is an important source of clean and round-the- clock power for energy-intensive digital infrastructure. Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Act, was recently passed by Parliament to strengthen the nuclear energy ecosystem.This will ensure the development of reliable power solutions for emerging sectors such as AI and data centres, including future deployment of small modular and micro nuclear reactors. Semicon India Programme Government approved Semicon India programme as a Pan India Programme for the development of semiconductor & display manufacturing ecosystem. The focus is on developing a complete ecosystem, ranging from talentpool, design, fabrication, assembly, testing, packing, and module manufacturing. Achievements: • In a short span of three years, it has seen an investment commitment of about Rs 1.6 Lakh Cr. • 10 units have been approved including 2 fabs and 8 ATMPs/OSATs and construction work is going on rapidly • Commercial production in one unit and Pilot production in 3 units has already started • These projects are expected to produce more than 24 Bn chips /annum from packaging facilities, 55000 wafer starts per month (WSPM) from fabrication facilities • 24 projects approved for the design of semiconductor chips and SoCs, with a total project value of Rs. 900 crore, including investments in design infrastructure o These projects address critical sectors such as video surveillance, drone detection, energy metering, microprocessors, satellite communications, and broadband and IoT SoCs. o Out of 24 projects, 14 companies have raised venture capital funding to scale up and productize their solutions, catalyzing private investment at more than a 3× multiple of the incentives disbursed o ₹650 crore raised in VC funding by Indian semiconductor startups o 7 chips have been successfully fabricated out of 16 designs taped out across multiple foundries, including advanced nodes such as 12 nm at TSMC • 105 fabless chip design companies have been supported with access to advanced chip design infrastructure, cumulatively consuming 60 lakh hours of tool usage • 315 Universities are getting access to advanced EDA tools for the students. So far, the usage of these tools has exceeded 185 lakh hours • 146 designs taped out by 49 institutions across India out of which SCL has successfully fabricated and packaged 94 student-designed chips Building on the success of Semicon India Programme, Union Budget 2026-27 announced that the India Semiconductor Mission 2.0 will be launched to produce equipment and materials, design full stack, Indian IP and fortify supply chains. *******