NEW DELHI: The Centre on Tuesday announced the establishment of three Artificial Intelligence (AI) Centres of Excellence (CoE) focused on healthcare, agriculture, and sustainable cities in New Delhi.These Centres will conduct interdisciplinary research, develop cutting-edge applications, and create scalable solutions.This initiative aims to galvanize an effective AI ecosystem and nurture quality human resources in these critical fields.Making the announcement, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said, “The three CoEs in AI—’healthcare, agriculture, and sustainable cities’—will democratise, AI innovations and research into healthcare delivery, strengthen food security, and address critical urban challenges.”“These CoEs led by our top academic institutions will strengthen India’s AI capabilities and power the growth of India’s AI ecosystem,” Pradhan said.”The CoEs in AI will emerge as temples of global public good. With the talent and zeal that Bharat is blessed with, these CoEs will be a key element of global public policy and also emerge as solution-providers of the world. With the unveiling of these centres, significant strides have been made to strengthen Bharat’s credentials in the global AI landscape,” he added.The CoEs will be led by top educational institutions in consortium with industry partners and startups.”I am confident that the CoEs will give impetus to the startup ecosystem in our country, help create a new generation of jobs, and establish new paradigms for global public good,” he added.The CoE in healthcare will be led by Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi (IIT-Delhi) and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), the CoE in agriculture will be led by IIT Ropar and the CoE for sustainable cities will be led by IIT Kanpur.As part of the vision to “Make AI in India and Make AI work for India,” the establishment of these centres was announced under Para 60 of the Budget Announcement for 2023-24.In alignment, the government has approved the creation of the three AI Centers of Excellence, with a total financial outlay of Rs 990 crore over the period of FY 2023-24 to FY 2027-28.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.Higher Education Secretary K. Sanjay Murthy highlighted that these CoEs are not just institution-based but are designed to serve the entire country.Stressing the importance of interdisciplinary research, he said that with the right kind of collaboration among like-minded resources, optimum results can be achieved.He noted that the competitive-based challenge methods developed in educational institutions have ensured progress towards resolving common problems.Dr Vembu highlighted how these projects will holistically benefit the health of villages, cities, and the people of the country. He emphasized the importance of nurturing the country’s talent pool to ensure its members flourish and serve the nation in the coming 10 to 20 years. He also added that the CoEs will bootstrap numerous efforts, create companies, nurture talent, and generate opportunities for our talent pool.
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