The NM-ICPS is a Government of India initiative launched in 2018 by the Department of Science & Technology (DST).
- Aim : To boost technology development in cyber-physical domains like AI, Robotics, IOT.
- Budget : Rs. 3,660.00 crore.
- Major activities under the mission include:
- Technology Development
- Human Resource Development
- Entrepreneurship Development
- International Collaborations.
- Under this mission, 25 Technology Innovation Hubs (TIHs) have been established in reputed academic institutions across India.
- Achievements of the Mission:
- Information Technology–Operational Technology (IT-OT) Security Operations Centre (SoC), for monitoring of cyber threats on both IT and OT infrastructure of an organization.
- Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI), for secure storage and management of Digital Credentials.
- CharakDT Platform (Integrated Human Digital Twin System), for healthcare applications.
- TiHAN Testbed, a state-of-the-art testbed for autonomous navigation technology development, for both aerial and terrestrial autonomous vehicles.
- iRASTE, an application for enhancing road safety by using predictive capabilities of Artificial intelligence (AI).
- Holographic Technologies for Mining, for visualization of remote mines.
- ORAN (Open Radio Access Network) Massive MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) 32TR (Transmit-Receive) radio unit, to enhance 5G technology by utilizing large antenna arrays, thus enabling long-range connectivity for rural areas.
AI is a constellation of technologies that enable machines to act with higher levels of intelligence and emulate the human capabilities of sense, comprehend and act.
India’s Approach to Regulate AI:
- Sovereign AI : India is taking a multifaceted approach to regulate AI, focusing on its sovereign applications in critical sectors like healthcare and agriculture while ensuring privacy and ethical considerations are addressed.
- Digital Personal Data Protection Act in 2023: address concerns related to AI platforms by regulating how personal data is handled, ensuring individuals’ privacy is protected.
- Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence:As a member of GPAI, India hosted the 2023 GPAI Summit in New Delhi, focusing on responsible AI, data governance, and the future of work, innovation, and commercialization.
- The National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence #AIForAll strategy, by NITI Aayog: This strategy outlines AI R&D guidelines focusing on healthcare, agriculture, education, smart cities and infrastructure, and smart mobility and transformation
- EAC-PM Paper on AI Regulation: This paper proposes a novel AI regulation framework based on a Complex Adaptive System with five key principles:
- Specialist Regulator: Establishing an expert regulatory body with a broad mandate and swift responsiveness.
- Transparency: Ensuring open licensing of core algorithms for external audits and continuous monitoring.
- AI Accountability: Mandating standardized incident reporting protocols and defining clear lines of accountability.
- Manual Overrides and Authorization Chokepoints: Empowering human intervention in AI system operations.
- Guardrails and Partitions: Implementing boundary conditions to limit undesirable AI behaviors.
- The MEITY issued an advisory to several large platforms for the regulation of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) recently. MeitY stipulated that they must seek government permission to operate in India, provide disclaimers and disclosures during testing phases, and ensure their resources do not permit bias, discrimination, or threats to electoral integrity through AI.
Thus, India’s approach emphasizes a balanced path, fostering AI innovation while ensuring ethical use and safeguarding individual rights.
National Initiatives to Promote AI:
- National AI Portal: It is a joint initiative by the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), National e-Governance Division (NeGD) and NASSCOM.
- National Program on Artificial Intelligence (India): India’s domestic initiative focusing on responsible AI, innovation, and balancing the benefits of AI with potential risks.
- Future Skills Prime: A program in India that promotes reskilling and upskilling in AI-related skills to prepare the workforce for the changing job landscape.
- An AI based portal SUPACE is developed to assist judges with legal research. (Supreme Court Portal for Assistance in Courts Efficiency)
- In June 2020, India became a part of the GPAI (Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence).
- US India Artificial Intelligence (USIAI) initiative has been launched to scale up the science and technology relationship between India and the United States.
- National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems: Technology Innovation Hubs (TIH) has been established on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur.
- Artificial Intelligence Research, Analytics and Knowledge Assimilation Platform: It is a Cloud computing platform, aiming to make India a pioneer amongst emerging economies with regards to AI and transform sectors like education, health, agriculture, urbanization and mobility.
- The government has launched a National Program for the youth namely, ‘Responsible Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Youth’.
- India AI Mission : The Union Cabinet approved the Rs 10,300 crore India AI Mission to procure AI compute capacity and offer it at subsidized rates to start-ups and researchers.
The IndiaAI Mission was launched on March 7, 2024, with a budget outlay of ₹10,371.92 crore, to position India as a global AI leader and democratize AI benefits across society.
7 Key Pillars of the Mission:
- IndiaAI Compute Capacity
- Build a high-end scalable AI computing ecosystem with 10,000+ GPUs through public-private partnerships.
- Launch an AI marketplace offering AI as a service and pre-trained models.
- IndiaAI Innovation Centre
- Develop indigenous Large Multimodal Models (LMMs) and sector-specific foundational models.
- IndiaAI Datasets Platform
- Create a unified platform for seamless access to high-quality, non-personal datasets for startups and researchers.
- IndiaAI Application Development Initiative
- Promote AI solutions in critical sectors through collaboration with Central Ministries, State Departments, and institutions.
- IndiaAI FutureSkills
- Increase AI education in undergraduate, master’s, and Ph.D. programs.
- Establish Data and AI Labs in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities for foundational AI training.
- IndiaAI Startup Financing
- Support deep-tech AI startups with streamlined funding access for innovative AI projects.
- Safe & Trusted AI
- Develop frameworks, tools, and self-assessment checklists for responsible AI development.
Role in Fostering India’s AI Ecosystem:
- Technological Self-Reliance: Enhances India’s capacity to build indigenous AI technologies.
- Inclusive Growth: Democratizes AI access, especially in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
- Skilled Workforce: Strengthens AI education and training, tapping into India’s demographic dividend.
- Startup Support: Empowers innovation through funding and infrastructure for AI startups.
- Global Leadership: Positions India as a leader in ethical, responsible AI for public good.
- Socio-Economic Transformation: Drives AI adoption across sectors like healthcare, agriculture, and governance.
Thus, the IndiaAI Mission exemplifies India’s commitment to harnessing AI’s transformative potential for inclusive development and global leadership.
