Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan Announces Establishment Of 3 AI Centres Of Excellence

Bhubaneswar: Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday announced establishment of three AI Centres of Excellence (CoE) focused on Healthcare, Agriculture, and Sustainable Cities.

Making the announcement at a function in New Delhi, Pradhan said the Central government will set up the three Artificial Intelligence (AI) Centres of Excellence (CoE) with support from AIIMS, IIT Delhi, Kanpur and Ropar by 2028.

AIIMS and IIT Delhi will head the healthcare CoE, IIT Ropar in agriculture and IIT Kanpur on the sustainable cities.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had made announcement on establishment of these AI centres in her 2023-24 budget speech as part of the vision to “Make AI in India and Make AI work for India,”. A provision of Rs 990 crores has been made in the Budget for these centres, she said.

Speaking on the occasion, Pradhan said the three CoEs would be temples of global public good. “With the unveiling of these Centres, significant strides have been taken to strengthen Bharat’s credentials in the global AI landscape,” he added.

“With the talent and zeal that Bharat is blessed with, these CoEs will emerge as solution providers of the world. These centres aim to create a new generation of job creators and wealth creators,” he said.

The initiative will be implemented over five years from 2023-24 financial year to 2027-28, with the aim of strengthening India’s global position in AI-driven research and innovation.