Centre to establish 3 AI centres of excellence by 2028, says education minister

New Delhi: Union minister for education Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday said the Centre will establish three Artificial Intelligence (AI) Centres of Excellence (CoE) focused on healthcare, agriculture, and sustainable cities with the support of AIIMS, IIT Delhi, Kanpur and Ropar by 2028.
The establishment of these centres was announced by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her 2023-24 budget speech as part of the vision to “Make AI in India and Make AI work for India,”. The government has approved ₹990 crores for these centres.
Pradhan said, “AI-CoEs are going to be solution-providers of the world.” He said that these centres aim to create a new generation of job creators and wealth creators. “With the talent and zeal that Bharat is blessed with, these CoEs will be a key element of global public policy,” he added.
The initiative will be implemented over five years, from FY 2023-24 to FY 2027-28, with the aim of strengthening India’s global position in AI-driven research and innovation.
Pradhan also said that he “hopes that the three AI-CoEs will emerge as global centres of public good.” He noted that the unveiling of these centres marked a “significant step in strengthening Bharat’s credentials in the global AI landscape.”
AIIMS and IIT Delhi will spearhead the healthcare CoE, IIT Ropar will lead efforts in agriculture, and IIT Kanpur will drive the sustainable cities initiative.
To oversee the implementation of the initiative, an industry heavy Apex Committee has been constituted, co-chaired by Sridhar Vembu, Founder and CEO of Zoho Corporation. Notably, Vembu was also appointed as a UGC member by the government back in April.
According to a statement issued by the education ministry, the healthcare AI-CoE will focus on early disease prediction, diagnostics, and pandemic tracking, while addressing challenges in affordability, quality, and access through trials and data collection for healthcare, including AYUSH medicines.
The agriculture centre will aim to transform farming practices by using data on crop yields and weather to provide AI-driven guidance.
The sustainable cities centre will leverage AI for smart city planning, traffic management, and resource distribution, using data from sensors and satellite feeds to enhance public space design.