State vs State: Who’s Slaying the AI Game in India?

Indian states are coming up with unique initiatives to position themselves as the leader in the AI field. Karnataka, for instance, recently signed a letter of intent with the World Economic Forum (WEF) to establish a dedicated AI centre, aiming to establish itself as a global AI hub.?

At the WEF meet in Davos, the state signed eight memorandums of understanding with global firms, securing investments worth INR 23,000 crore across AI, citizen services, sustainability, and e-governance.

What About the Others??

Telangana is also climbing up the ladder by setting up an AI City near Hyderabad. Spread over 200 acres, it will house companies specialising in AI. In Andhra Pradesh, chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu has directed officials to develop Amaravati as a city focused on AI.?

Recently, Google signed an MoU with the Tamil Nadu government with an aim to create impactful and scalable AI solutions in key areas such as AI start-up enablement, skilling, and industrial ecosystem enablement, including MSMEs.

Earlier in February 2024, the tech giant signed an MoU with the Maharashtra government too. Besides, the company announced the launch of a state-of-the-art AI Centre of Excellence at the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Nagpur.

Further, the Andhra Pradesh government has also announced its plans to sign an MoU with the tech giant for the initiative, ‘AI for Andhra Pradesh, powered by Google’.?

You thought southern states were the only ones advancing? Nope. Things have been promising up north, too.?

The Delhi government is considering creating an AI hub at its proposed Electronic City in Baprola, offering facilities for companies in electronics design and manufacturing.?

In Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow is fostering AI innovation through its Centres of Excellence and aims to develop an AI City that integrates technology, research centres, and educational institutions. The state government has allocated 40 acres in Nadarganj Industrial Area to support this ambitious project.

Moreover, Assam is making a mark in the semiconductor industry by leasing over 170 acres to the Tata Group for an INR 27,000 crore fab.?

Budget Allocation for AI?

When it comes to budget allocations, only a few states have mentioned AI in their February 2024 budget.?

Kerala has announced plans to introduce a dedicated AI policy aligned with ESG goals within this fiscal year. The Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) will offer share capital investment of up to INR 5 crore with AI entities that have a minimum investment of INR 10 crore.?

Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah announced that the state is set to establish an AI/ML administration unit. Additionally, a stipend of INR 15,000 will be provided to 200 engineering graduates enrolled in vocational training courses related to AI/ML at institutions like IISc, IITs, and NITs.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu is set to establish the Tamil Nadu Artificial Intelligence Mission to develop guidelines for leveraging AI in various fields, including education, employment, research, and medicine.?

However, other states have not mentioned their budget allocation or policies for AI development yet. Backing up the states’ AI momentum, however, is the central government, which allocated INR 551.75 crore to the AI Mission in its Union Budget 2024-25, emphasising its commitment to advancing AI research and applications.

Invests in Semiconductor?

At a recent media briefing at the Vikasa Soudha, Karnataka IT/BT minister Priyank Kharge highlighted a remarkable achievement: “With INR 21.56 crore investment, we’ve supported 200+ innovations, creating 800 ESDM jobs. Semiconductor Fabless Accelerator Lab (SFAL) startups have raised INR 140 crore, valued at INR 500 crore collectively.”

In Tamil Nadu, Applied Materials India Pvt has entered into an agreement with the state government to establish an advanced AI-enabled Technology Development Centre of Excellence in Chennai.?

Telangana is also making waves in this sector, with Kaynes Technology India Ltd signing an MoU with the state government to set up an INR 2,800 crore facility for outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) in Hyderabad. The company has also secured the Gujarat government’s approval to set up a semiconductor unit in Sanand. This will have the capacity to produce 6.3 million chips per day, backed by an investment of INR 3,307 crore.?

Apart from the semiconductor or big tech AI partnerships, states are also spearheading smaller AI initiatives. States like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, and Punjab are pushing towards integrating AI into education. Kerala is leading with its Digital University becoming the first in India to develop an AI processor.

With respect to traffic management, states like Goa and Sikkim plan to launch AI-driven systems.

The states are also working to address the concerns of rising crime rates in the country. For instance, the Maharashtra government has launched the Maharashtra Research and Vigilance for Enhanced Law Enforcement, which is set to enhance intelligence capabilities and improve crime prediction, making it the first in the country to create an independent entity for AI in law enforcement.

With AI developments accelerating rapidly across India, it may be difficult to pinpoint a clear leader. However, based on the diverse initiatives and partnerships underway, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana might be at the forefront. Rest assured, other states are catching up fast!?

Enjoy the full story here.?

What’s Keeping India’s CTO Busy These Days?

After UPI, Aadhaar, and DigiLocker, India’s chief technology officer, Nandan Nilekani, is betting big on what you may call the Finternet.?

In an exclusive interview with AIM, Pramod Varma, the CTO of EkStep Foundation who partnered with Nilekani on this project, spilled the beans on Finternet. Citing the vision paper, Varma explained that Finternet was inspired by the nature of the internet.?

Learn more about Finternet here.

AI Bytes?

• India is set to significantly enhance its supercomputing power with an upgrade to the Param Siddhi supercomputer, incorporating NVIDIA H100 GPUs that will boost AI training by up to 9x and enable more advanced scientific simulations.?
• Sakana AI has raised $100M in Series A funding, with support from NVIDIA and top investors, to drive AI research in Japan, focusing on nature-inspired intelligence and evolutionary optimisation, alongside addressing Japan’s talent gap and advancing its AI ecosystem with cutting-edge technologies and infrastructure.
• Freshworks recently appointed Murli Swaminathan, former engineering executive at ServiceNow, as its new CTO. Swaminathan will lead global engineering teams and oversee the company’s tech roadmap.