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Time of India
an hour ago
- Business
- Time of India
Working on the ‘Hill to Hi-Tech' mantra to make Uttarakhand a technologically advanced state: CM Dhami
Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami Chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Tuesday launched several information and communications technology (ICT)-enabled services. These included the Digital Uttarakhand app, 66 websites built on the Secure, Scalable, and Sugamya (S3Waas) platform, a GIS-based web application for real-time tracking of garbage collection vehicles in urban areas, AI innovation in the 1905 CM Helpline for enhanced citizen service, and a web-based application for encroachment monitoring. CM's announcements A next-generation Data Centre will be established in Uttarakhand to meet future challenges, with a dedicated disaster recovery mechanism. An 'AI Mission' will soon be launched in the state to address future challenges, which will be developed as a 'Centre of Excellence.' Taking forward the concept of Good Governance, a next-generation Remote Sensing and Drone Application Centre will be developed in the state. The government will work towards establishing a dedicated IT cadre in the state. CM Dhami said that Uttarakhand, along with being a beautiful hill state, should also move forward as a technologically advanced state. For this, the state government is working on the mantra of 'Hill to Hi-Tech.' 'Today, five significant IT initiatives have been launched in the state. These innovations will not only improve governance but also bring speed and transparency to various services. He added that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, technology and innovation have expanded through the Digital India campaign. The state government is also making continuous efforts to realise the Prime Minister's vision of Digital India. Through the Digital Uttarakhand app, people will be able to avail multiple government services from home, eliminating the need to visit government offices. This app will help realise the prime minister's mantra of Minimum Government – Maximum Governance by making government services more integrated, simple, and accessible, as well as enabling easy monitoring of various activities,' he stated. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like West Bromwich: If You Were Born Between 1940-1975 You Could Be Eligible For This Life Cover Reassured Get Quote Undo The CM added that the 66 new government websites based on the S3Waas platform will deliver departmental information to the public securely, promptly, and transparently. The GIS-based web app will provide real-time monitoring of garbage collection vehicles in urban areas. For preventing encroachment, citizens will be able to upload photos or videos of encroachments through a web-based app, on which the concerned department will promptly investigate and take necessary action. The entire process will be trackable online. He further said that the 1905 CM Helpline is an important medium of communication between citizens and the government. AI-based features in this service will allow for auto-categorisation of complaints, faster resolution, and improved follow-up monitoring. The chief minister highlighted that special priority is being given to initiatives like online education, e-health services, and digitisation of land records. Through the e-District portal and CM Dashboard, efforts are being made to provide multiple government services to citizens from the comfort of their homes. Smart classrooms and e-learning platforms are being expanded for students, while telemedicine and e-Sanjeevani services are bringing specialist doctors' advice to citizens in remote areas. The Apni Sarkar portal is providing 886 services online, and nearly 95% of villages in the state now have telecommunication connectivity. On this occasion, MLA Khajan Das, chief secretary L Fanai, secretaries Nitesh Jha, Dr. Ranjeet Kumar Sinha, Dr Pankaj Kumar Pandey, Neeraj Khairwal, Dr V Shanmugam, Sridhar Babu Adanki, Director General UCOST Prof. Durgesh Pant, IT director Gaurav Kumar (virtually), municipal commissioner Dehradun Namami Bansal, additional secretaries, and heads of relevant departments were present.
Mint
2 days ago
- Business
- Mint
India to focus on voice-first vernacular LLMs: AI Mission CEO
New Delhi: India's $1.2-billion AI Mission is preparing to make voice-first artificial intelligence (AI) models for Indian languages its calling card, aiming to differentiate itself from Big Tech firms that focus primarily on text-based AI. The differentiator for artificial intelligence from India could include Indic languages-focused large language models, alongside voice-first models. In an interview with Mint, Abhishek Singh, additional secretary at the Ministry of Electronics and IT (Meity) and chief executive of the Centre's India AI Mission, said that the country's push to build its own foundational AI models will seek to create solutions that can be replicated in other nations. 'India's common compute infrastructure is a unique model that is receiving a lot of interest from around the world, especially the global south," Singh said. 'While US tech firms are largely building foundational models based on text data as the primary medium, as India, we see a sizeable opportunity to develop foundational models that are primarily trained on voice data, because in future, voice will be the primary and most natural way in which people will interact with AI." The AI Mission, announced in March last year, seeks to offer funding support in the form of access to graphic processing unit (GPU) chips to startups. So far, four startups—Gan, Gnani, Sarvam and Soket—have been approved to build foundational AI models by Meity under the Mission. A total of over 34,000 GPUs, which are fundamental resources used to train AI algorithms on billions of parameters of data, have also been procured by Meity through cloud and data centre providers, which include the likes of Jio,Tata Communications and Yotta. Since its announcement, the India AI Mission has been allocated close to $250 million over the previous and current fiscals. Meity does not disclose the exact budgetary utilization figure. Leaning on language data Singh, however, added that more than procuring GPUs and bringing down the cost of compute for startups building AI models, India's biggest efforts are being pooled into procuring public datasets on Indian languages. 'All foundational models are trained on publicly available datasets. If you look at Wikipedia, which is one of the largest sources of open data used by AI startups, there are millions of pages of data in English—but the number of pages of data in Hindi would be around a few hundred thousand. The amount of data available in other Indian languages, such as Bangla or Assamese, is even less. This is why Meity, through its Bhashini programme, conducted a datasets sourcing drive to procure language data from our own sources," he said. Bhashini, to be sure, maintains a database of 22 Indian languages, which the AI Mission is offering to help startups build LLMs based on these languages. Singh's emphasis is already being reflected in early examples—on 8 May, Sarvam, the first startup approved by the AI Mission, introduced a text-to-speech LLM with native support for 11 Indian languages. 'In the long run, voice-first Indian language LLMs can come into application in public services—such as for a farmer who can use a public utility to reduce his irrigation costs, for access to healthcare in remote districts, and for improving education in fringe sectors. It is this that will be the biggest impact of AI in India," Singh said. While it is too early to test most of the models, Sarvam-M, the first of the Indic language-native AI models born in India, claimed to offer 20% superior performance in vernacular languages over foreign models. However, Sarvam-M is not a foundational model—but is a 24-billion-parameter AI model trained on French startup Mistral's foundational models. Public service apps Industry stakeholders, too, concurred. 'For private corporates, we see a lot of investments going in with a commercial business outcome-linked approach," said Saibal Chakraborty, managing director and senior partner for India at management consultancy firm, Boston Consulting Group (BCG). 'While this only develops the upper layer of AI applications, the need of the hour is for startups to work on public service applications in AI. Not everyone needs to work on foundational models, or try to reinvent the wheel—but public utilities will likely emerge as the biggest disruptor in the long run." The efficacy of the Mission has also been questioned recently, with large, global tech firms such as Google and OpenAI adding support for Indian languages in their latest foundational models. Kashyap Kompella, veteran AI analyst and consultant, said that there would be room for both Big Tech firms and Indian startups to coexist despite targeting a similar base. 'Enterprises are more likely to trust AI models offered by Big Tech, since they have stronger policies and safety safeguards. However, Indian firms have ample scope to disrupt critical sectors. The work on local AI models and investments should continue with a long-term focus, if the ultimate goal is not to be dependent solely on AI built outside the country," Kompella added. Singh reaffirmed this long-term focus, adding that the Mission will seek to create an impact for the future. 'By end-2026, we hope to see the India AI Mission give birth to five foundational LLMs, and up to 100 AI applications catering to public utilities in key sectors such as agriculture, education and healthcare. The government's role is to be an enabler for private firms to take on such work," he said.
Mint
2 days ago
- Business
- Mint
India tops US smartphone supply, electronic production grown six times to ₹12 lakh crore: Ashwini Vaishnaw
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday said that India has become top smartphone supplier to the US, adding, that the nation's electronics manufacturing has grown six times and is now worth ₹ 12 lakh crore. "India's electronic production has grown six times in last 11 years, while the export of electronic goods has gone up eight times,' added the Union Minister for Electronics and IT. Vaishnaw, who is also the Railway Minister, made the comments while addressing the inauguration ceremony of Metro projects in Bengaluru on Sunday. The Minister's statements about the jump in numbers pertaining to India's electronic goods production and exports comes amid the ongoing tariff tensions, which have put India-US trade ties in the spotlight. – In the leadership of PM Narendra Modi in 11 years, India is transforming in every sector. In 2014, India was called a fragile economy, today India is considered as a bright spot in the world filled with uncertainty. – He said that Karnataka's Devanahalli is becoming a major iPhone manufacturing hub. – Referring to India AI Mission, Vaishnaw stated that PM Modi's vision is to democratise technology. 'As part of the mission, 34,000 GPUs are available as common compute facility for all innovators, with the price of GPU less than $1 per hour,' said Vaishnaw. According to data by India's Ministry of Electronics and IT, in February 2025, India had made significant progress in mobile and electronics manufacturing, becoming the world's 2nd largest mobile manufacturing country. – In 2014, India had only 2 mobile manufacturing units, but fast forward to today, the nation boasts over 300 manufacturing units, underscoring a significant expansion in this vital sector. – In 2014 -15 only 26 per cent of the mobile phones which were being sold in India were made in India, the rest were being imported. As of February 4, 2025, 99.2 per cent of all mobile phones which were sold in India were made in India, stated the government data.
Mint
2 days ago
- Business
- Mint
India tops US smartphone supply, electronic production grown six times to ₹12 lakh crore: Ashwini Vaishnaw
'India has become top smartphone supplier to the US,' Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Sunday, stating that the nation's electronics manufacturing has grown six times and is now worth ₹ 12 lakh crore. Vaishnaw claimed that India's electronic production 'has grown six times in last 11 years,' while the export of electronic goods has 'gone up eight times.' The Railway Minister's comments about the jump in numbers pertaining to India's electronic goods production and exports comes amid the ongoing tariff tensions, which have put India-US trade ties in the spotlight. – 'In the leadership of PM Narendra Modi in 11 years, India is transforming in every sector. In 2014, India was called a fragile economy, today India is considered as a bright spot in the world filled with uncertainty,' said Vaishnaw. – He said that Karnataka's Devanahalli is becoming a major iPhone manufacturing hub. – Referring to India AI Mission, Vaishnaw said that 'PM Modi's vision is to democratise technology.' As part of the mission, '34,000 GPUs are available as common compute facility for all innovators', with the price of GPU less than $1 per hour, said Vaishnaw. According to data by India's Ministry of Electronics and IT, in February 2025, India had made significant progress in mobile and electronics manufacturing, becoming the world's 2nd largest mobile manufacturing country. – In 2014, India had only 2 mobile manufacturing units, but fast forward to today, the nation boasts over 300 manufacturing units, underscoring a significant expansion in this vital sector. – In 2014 -15 only 26 per cent of the mobile phones which were being sold in India were made in India, the rest were being imported. As of February 4, 2025, 99.2 per cent of all mobile phones which were sold in India were made in India, stated the government data. - The manufacturing value of mobile phones also surged from ₹ 18,900 crore in FY14 to a staggering ₹ 4,22,000 crore in FY24.
Time of India
14-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
GCCs in growth spotlight: Goldman Sachs says India will hit $10 trillion GDP in 10 years; global capability centres to add $0.5 trillion
India's Global Capability Centres (GCCs) could contribute as much as $0.5 trillion to the country's gross value added (GVA) over the next decade, as India advances toward becoming a $10 trillion economy, a top Goldman Sachs executive said on Monday. Gunjan Samdani, Co-Chairman of Goldman Sachs India, said the GCC sector is expected to directly employ 20–25 million people in the coming years, underscoring its central role in shaping the country's economic future. He was speaking at the Confederation of Indian Industry's (CII) GCC Summit, ANI reported. "Sixty-five per cent of the global growth between now and 2035 will come from emerging markets, and India is a bright spot. We will be the fastest-growing economy in the world and will become a $10 trillion economy in the next decade," Samdani said. He noted that India is well-positioned to benefit from shifting geopolitical and economic dynamics globally, including supply chain realignment, trade rebalancing and increased technology spending. The country's demographic advantage, deep STEM talent pool, and rising capabilities in artificial intelligence (AI) — backed by the national AI Mission — would help India tap these opportunities effectively, he said. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like You Won't Believe the Price of These Dubai Apartments Binghatti Developers FZE Get Offer Undo 'India remains strategically positioned to capitalise on multiple global trends simultaneously,' Samdani said, adding that artificial intelligence represents the most compelling disruption opportunity in today's evolving economic landscape. According to Samdani, global technology spending is expected to surpass $4.92 trillion by 2025, driven by AI-led digital infrastructure development. India, he said, has the potential to emerge as a major hub in this transformation, with GCCs acting as key players. The role of GCCs has evolved significantly over the years — from low-cost support centres to innovation engines that drive AI, automation and digital transformation for multinational corporations. These centres, typically offshore hubs set up by MNCs to run core business functions and services, are now helping shape strategic direction and innovation agendas for their parent companies. As a result, they are emerging as major contributors not just to the Indian economy, but also to the future of global enterprise operations, industry experts said. The remarks come amid renewed government efforts to scale up the GCC ecosystem beyond India's traditional tech hubs and drive deeper integration with emerging technologies and talent across tier-2 and tier-3 cities. Stay informed with the latest business news, updates on bank holidays and public holidays . AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
