AI, AI Captain: India Tops Global Rankings in Skills, GitHub Projects, 40th in Readiness: MoS IT to Parliament

While India ranks first in Artificial Intelligence (AI) Skill Penetration and first in the number of GitHub AI Projects in the Stanford AI Index report 2024, in the Oxford AI Readiness Index, India is ranked 40th, reflecting the country’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its AI infrastructure, Jitin Prasada, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, recently told Parliament.

The minister further cited the NASSCOM AI Adoption Index, which places India at an enthusiast level with a score of 2.45 out of 4. This score underscores the nation’s growing enthusiasm and potential in AI adoption, with the Industrial & Automotive, Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) and Retail, Banking Financial Services & Insurance (BFSI), and Healthcare sectors leading the charge, he said. Together, these sectors are expected to contribute nearly 60 per cent of AI’s projected $500 billion value-add by FY2026.

Prasada emphasised the government’s mission to harness AI for real-world applications across various sectors, including healthcare, agriculture, and language translation, to benefit citizens and communities.

Notable AI-driven government initiatives include the Digital India Bhashini project, which has already made over 350 AI-driven language models available in 10 Indian languages, and the AI-enabled KISAN E-Mitra bot, which facilitates farmers in 11 languages.

The Parliament was also informed about the government’s strategic investments to promote AI innovation. The Union Budget for 2024-25 has earmarked Rs 21,936.90 crore for the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), with a significant portion directed towards the IndiaAI mission.

Specifically, Rs 551.75 crore has been allocated to advance AI research and applications, demonstrating the government’s commitment to positioning India as a global leader in AI. Additionally, Rs 255 crore has been set aside for the establishment of three Centres of Excellence (CoEs) in AI, further solidifying India’s AI infrastructure.

India’s participation in the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) and its role as the incoming council chair highlight the country’s leadership and commitment to the responsible development and use of AI on the global stage.