Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday said that India’s sovereign artificial intelligence (AI) model strategy is delivering tangible results, citing the progress made under the IndiaAI Mission and the recent release of an advanced model by homegrown startup Sarvam AI.
In a post on X, the Minister said that even critical reviewers have praised the technologically advanced AI model released by Sarvam AI as part of the government’s sovereign AI initiative. He said the development reflects the growing maturity of India’s indigenous AI ecosystem.
Sarvam AI was selected last year to build India’s first foundational AI model, after being shortlisted from 67 proposals. The startup has developed advanced text-to-speech, speech-to-text and optical character recognition (OCR) models tailored for Indic languages.
The Minister said that alongside these developments, young Indian engineers are working on innovative AI applications across sectors such as materials science, healthcare and cybersecurity, which are expected to gain global attention for their impact and originality.
In December 2025, Sarvam AI Co-founder Pratyush Kumar showcased multilingual AI systems under the IndiaAI Mission, including India’s first sovereign foundational Large Language Model designed specifically for Indian languages.
The government approved the IndiaAI Mission in 2024 with an outlay of ₹10,300 crore to be implemented over five years. The mission aims to strengthen the country’s AI capabilities by supporting foundational models, research, innovation, infrastructure and skilling.
Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged Indian startups to leverage artificial intelligence for societal good. During a roundtable interaction with AI startups, he stressed the need to make AI affordable, inclusive and transparent, and encouraged the development of models that promote indigenous content and regional languages.
The Prime Minister has also announced that India will host the India AI Impact Summit 2026 from February 16 to 20, positioning the country as a key global contributor to the evolving technology landscape.
-IANS
