India Launches BharatGen: First Government-Supported Multimodal AI Initiative

Tags: Government Schemes National News

A government-supported multimodal large language model initiative aimed at advancing generative AI for public service delivery and citizen engagement.

An Overview of the News

• It launched in the virtual presence of Dr. Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State for Science and Technology, in New Delhi.

India's Leadership in Generative AI:

• Dr. Jitendra Singh highlighted BharatGen as a milestone in India's technological leadership, comparing it to the success of UPI and other national innovations.

Focus on Indian Languages:

• BharatGen is the world's first government-funded multimodal large language model project centered on Indian languages, addressing India's socio-cultural and linguistic diversity.

Key Institutions and Partners:

• Spearheaded by IIT Bombay under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS), Department of Science and Technology (DST).

• Partners include academic institutes like IIT Bombay, IIIT Hyderabad, IIT Mandi, IIT Kanpur, IIT Hyderabad, IIM Indore, and IIT Madras.

The objective of BharatGen:

• To develop generative AI systems capable of producing high-quality text and multimodal content in multiple Indian languages.

• Focus on social equity, cultural preservation, and linguistic diversity to ensure inclusive AI for all.

Key Features of BharatGen:

• Multilingual and multimodal foundation models.

• Building and training models on Indian datasets.

• Open-source platform for AI development.

• Ecosystem development for generative AI research in India.

Project Timeline:

• Completion expected by July 2026.

• Key milestones include AI model development, experimentation, and the establishment of benchmarks tailored to India’s needs.

• Plans for scaling AI adoption across industries and public initiatives.