20 ITIs and 17 Polytechnics identified in Gujarat for setting up Data & AI Labs

Delhi: In Gujarat, 37 institutes have been identified for the establishment of Data & AI Labs, comprising 20 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and 17 Polytechnics under the IndiaAI Mission. These IndiaAI FutureSkills pillars will provide training in AI, data annotation, data curation and applied data science. This information was provided by Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology, Shri Jitin Prasada, in Rajya Sabha while replying to AI related questions raised by RS MP Shri Parimal Nathwani.

The Minister further stated that under the IndiaAI Startup Financing pillar of the Centre, two Artificial Intelligence Centres of Excellence (AI-CoEs) have been allocated to Gujarat so as to strengthen the regional AI innovation ecosystem and provide focused support to startups, MSMEs and academic institutions in the State.

The IndiaAI Fellowship, also under the FutureSkills pillar, is aimed at building India’s AI talent pipeline by supporting undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral scholars pursuing AI research across the country. Gujarat has been awarded 23 fellowships, comprising 4 Undergraduate, 12 Postgraduate and 7 PhD Research Fellowships, supporting AI research and skilling in the State’s academic institutions.

The Minister’s reply stated that the IndiaAI Compute pillar democratises access to high-performance AI computing by providing subsidised Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) access, at an average rate of approximately ₹65 per GPU-hour, to startups, researchers, MSMEs, academic institutions and Government organisations through 15 empanelled Compute Service Providers (CSPs). In this regard, in Gujarat, subsidised access to high-end GPU compute has been allocated to Gujarat-based entities, including Gujarat Informatics Limited (GIL) and the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Limited (AMUL).

In the written reply, the information provided stated that India’s AI strategy builds on India’s vibrant IT sector with annual revenue of 300 billion dollars and 60 Lakh strong workforce. The Government approved the IndiaAI Mission on 7th March 2024 with a total outlay of Rs. 10,371.92 crore over five years, operationalized through seven pillars vis-a-vis IndiaAI Compute, IndiaAI Foundation Models, AIKosh (Datasets Platform), IndiaAI Application Development Initiative (IADI), IndiaAI FutureSkills, IndiaAI Startup Financing, and Safe & Trusted AI. Under the IADI pillar, the IndiaAI Mission has launched 11 national-level hackathons and innovation challenges.