The Indian government has approved an INR 10,300 crore ($1.24 billion) funding package for its IndiaAI mission.
The program aims to nurture India’s AI innovation ecosystem and expand compute infrastructure access across the country.
The strategy includes a number of initiatives, such as IndiaAI Compute Capacity, IndiaAI Innovation Centre (IAIC), and IndiaAI FutureSkills.
Funded by a public-private partnership, the IndiaAI Compute Capacity program will see a ‘cutting-edge, scalable AI’ supercomputer built in the country containing over 10,000 GPUs. No further information about the specifications of the system has been made available.
Elsewhere, the IndiaAI Innovation Centre will use government-approved funds to spearhead the development of foundation models and large multimodal models, while the IndiaAI FutureSkills will focus on expanding the reach of AI education by increasing the accessibility of graduate and post-graduate AI programs.
“AI is going to be the kinetic enabler for India’s digital economy. Prime Minister Modi ji has always said that India is going to fully exploit the power of AI for the benefit of its citizens and for the expansion of its economy,” said Rajeev Chandrasekhar, minister of state for electronics and IT, skill development and entrepreneurship.
He added: “I am grateful and thankful to the PM for the approval of more than 10,000 crores for the India AI program, which will catalyze India’s AI ecosystem and position it as a force shaping the future of AI for India and for the world. This will benefit states like Kerala which, for years, missed the bus in creating a robust tech ecosystem."
Indian government allocates land for new semiconductor plants
In addition to the new IndiaAI program, the Indian government is also pushing ahead with its $10 billion semiconductor scheme.
Earlier this month, the government approved applications from Tata Group, Powerchip (PSMC), and a joint venture between CG Power, Renesas, and Stars Micro. It has now been reported that the Gujarat government has allocated 188 acres of land to Tata Group and CG Power for the construction of the planned chip fabs.
According to a Business Standard report, around 160 acres in Dholera have been earmarked for Tata Group’s 910 billion rupee ($11bn) plant, which will have the capacity to produce 50,000 12-inch wafers per month.
An additional 28 acres in Sanand have been offered to CG Power for its 76bn rupees ($92m) joint venture Renesas, and Stars Micro to build a chip packaging plant.
The plants were approved three weeks after it was first reported that the Indian government had received 18 proposals for the construction of semiconductor fabs as a result of schemes aimed at boosting semiconductor manufacturing in the country.
These schemes include the Modified Programme for Semiconductors and Display Fab Ecosystem, an 828 billion rupee ($10bn) scheme that was authorized by the Indian government in December 2021. The program allows companies to apply for up to 50 percent of capital costs for eligible semiconductor and display manufacturing projects.
In addition to these three newly approved fabs, the Indian government has given the green light to Micron Technology's ATMP (assembly, testing, marking, and packaging) facility.
