Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella on Wednesday announced a series of AI initiatives in India, including a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government’s ‘India AI Mission’ to skill 500,000 people by 2026.
The partnership with India AI, a division of Digital India Corporation, aims to harness AI to drive innovation, boost productivity, and promote inclusive growth nationwide.
As part of the MoU, Microsoft and India AI will collaborate to upskill students, educators, developers, government officials, and women entrepreneurs. They will also establish an AI Center of Excellence, called ‘AI Catalysts,’ to foster rural AI innovation and support 100,000 AI innovators and developers through hackathons, community-building solutions, and an AI marketplace.
Additionally, the MoU includes plans to set up ‘AI Productivity Labs’ at 20 National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs) and NIELIT centers across 10 states. These labs will offer foundational AI courses to 20,000 educators.
The partnership will further focus on developing AI-powered solutions for citizen-centric domains such as healthcare, education, accessibility, and agriculture.
“We are excited to work closely with the government to extend the benefits of the India AI mission to every corner of the country and democratize access to technology and resources,” said Puneet Chandok, President, Microsoft India and South Asia.
In a separate initiative, RailTel and Microsoft signed a five-year strategic partnership to accelerate digital, cloud, and AI transformation in Indian Railways and the public sector.
A recent IDC study commissioned by Microsoft revealed that AI adoption in India increased from 63% in 2023 to 72% in 2024.
On Tuesday, Microsoft announced its plan to invest $3 billion in cloud and AI infrastructure in India over the next two years, including the establishment of new data centers. The company also committed to training 10 million people in AI skills by 2030, having already empowered 2.4 million Indians, including civil servants, college students, and people with disabilities.
(Inputs from IANS)
