Joining the race with America and China, India has called for proposals to build its own LLM foundational model to rival DeepSeek R1 and ChatGPT.  The government for its India AI Mission has selected 18 AI solutions for funding under the IndiaAI Mission's first round.

Following China's introduction of the DeepSeek model AI lab on Thursday, India revealed plans to create its large language model through IndiaAI Mission, which costs Rs 10,370 crores, according to IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw's statement.

The government has selected 10 companies to supply 18,693 graphics processing units (GPUs), powerful chips for developing machine learning tools. These companies include Yotta, Jio Platforms, and Tata Communications, with Yotta providing nearly half of the 9,216 units pledged.

Vaishnaw shared that for the past 1.5 years, teams have been engaging with startups, researchers, and professors from India's startup ecosystem to develop an Indian foundational model that addresses its languages, culture, needs, and biases - without prejudices being added in.

They invite proposals to create this foundational model explicitly tailored to India's languages, culture, needs and biases - which they plan to present for approval later this month for developing AI in India.

India’s Plan for AI The IndiaAI Mission

India is set to make a major leap in the AI space with the launch of the IndiaAI Mission, a government initiative to strengthen the country’s AI capabilities. Here’s what the plan looks like

Key Highlights of the IndiaAI Mission

1. Affordable High-End Compute
    

• India will offer the world’s cheapest GPU computing, costing less than $1 per hour, with the government providing a 40% subsidy on GPU costs.
• This will decrease the price to one-third of the global average, around $2.5–3.
• 18,693 GPUs have been committed under the mission, with 15,000 high-end GPUs available now, offering a huge computational advantage for AI research and development.

2. Boosting Local AI Models
    

• The government is focusing on developing AI models that cater to India’s languages, culture, and context.
• There’s a call for proposals to create foundational AI models that remove biases and use Indian datasets.

3. Mission Objectives
    

• Training AI on Indian Data: Emphasis on building AI models that are aligned with India’s needs and challenges, including issues in healthcare, education, agriculture, and more.
• Creating a Strong Ecosystem: The mission will make India a hub for developing AI technologies and applications.

4. Supporting Startups and Developers
    

• Proposals will be invited for model development, with six identified startups and developers already lined up to build these AI models within the next 10 months.

5. Major Partnerships and Infrastructure
    

• Top companies like Jio Platforms, E2E Networks, and Locuz Enterprise Solutions are leading the way in providing GPU capacity for AI development.
• Rs 4,563.36 crore has been allocated for GPU subsidies over the next three years, with Rs 689 crore earmarked for AI application development.

What the Minister Said

• Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Minister for Electronics and IT, mentioned that India is not late to the AI race and is positioned to play a significant role globally. He highlighted that DeepSeek, a Chinese AI company, has proven that cost-efficient models can be built, and India plans to build even better, affordable models.
   
• He also pointed out that the IndiaAI Mission will bring AI models that reflect Indian languages and culture, focusing on societal impact and addressing the nation’s unique challenges.
   
• The government aims to create an ecosystem that fosters AI innovation at scale, ensuring fairness, bias mitigation, and ethical AI development across the country.
   

Ashwini Vaishnaw, India's Minister of Electronics and IT, announced on Wednesday that India would offer the lowest per-hour computing costs globally for high-end chips used in GenAI as part of their Rs 10,000 crore IndiaAI Mission starting Thursday.

They will also encourage academia and industry alike to build local language models by investing and providing support, further strengthening India's foundation in building AI models for Indian languages.

Vaishnaw also noted that proposals for model development would soon be invited, with at least six startups and developers who can deliver within 10 months having been identified as viable.

Vaishnaw said, "The real value comes from two things—how efficient the algorithms are and the quality of the training data.".

IndiaAI Mission Call for Proposals on Foundational AI Models

IndiaAI solicits proposals from startups, researchers, and entrepreneurs interested in creating cutting-edge foundational AI models explicitly tailored to Indian datasets as part of the IndiaAI Mission.

This initiative seeks to produce native AI models that address India's unique healthcare, education, agriculture and climate change challenges while remaining globally competitive.

AI models may include Large Multimodal Models, Large Language Models (LLM), or Small Language Models (SLM) tailored towards particular sectors. Proposals must consider cultural, linguistic, and contextual relevance while upholding fairness, bias mitigation practices, and ethical AI principles.

Key objectives include developing models that

• Support scalable use cases with measurable societal and economic impact.
• Align with ethical standards and legal frameworks (e.g., DPDP Act, IT Act).
• Encourage innovation and foster long-term sustainability.

Evaluation criteria include team expertise, proposed approach, feasibility and impact. Proposals must demonstrate clear timelines, an effective data strategy and use cases with clear societal value.

Funding will come through either direct grants or equity-based investments. Proposals should be sent to tenders@indiaai.gov.in by the 15th of each mont,h and shortlisted candidates will be invited for detailed presentations.

India aspires to become a global hub for Artificial Intelligence by encouraging innovation and collaboration. This initiative furthers that goal.

How Does the Future Look?

The rise of AI in daily life requires immediate attention to ethical standards for development and regulation. India focuses on developing ethical frameworks for responsible AI utilisation, integrating innovative technologies with ethical standards.

The future of AI in India extends past economic expansion to create a transformative path that will transform existing industries' governance systems and people's daily experiences.

India will become a worldwide leader in the AI revolution by implementing thoughtful, ethical development standards, strong regulatory measures, and growth that includes everyone.