India Launches Eight Foundational AI Model Projects Across Key Sectors Including Healthcare, Science, Industry, Governance And Agriculture

India has launched eight indigenous foundational model projects to strengthen its artificial intelligence ecosystem, focusing on multilingual, healthcare, scientific, industrial, governance, and agricultural applications.

The announcement was made by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on Thursday (21 September) as part of the lead-up to the India-AI Impact Summit 2026, which will be hosted in New Delhi on 19-20 February 2026.

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the initiatives reflect India’s goal of democratising technology and ensuring equitable access to AI resources.

"The AI Data Labs are intentionally located across diverse regions, reflecting our approach to inclusive growth and ensuring that technology is democratized," he noted.

The Eight Foundational Projects

The selected projects, chosen from over 500 proposals, include:

• Avatar AI – Domain-specific AI avatars optimised for Indian languages and domains such as agriculture, healthcare, and governance.

• Bharat Gen (IIT Bombay Consortium) – Multilingual and multimodal models ranging from 2 billion to 1 trillion parameters.

• Fractal Analytics – India’s first large reasoning model for STEM and medical problem-solving.

• Tech Mahindra Maker’s Lab – Designing an efficient 8B parameter model for Indic languages (with a focus on Hindi dialects), alongside an agentic AI platform, Orion, for government applications.

• Zenteiq’s BrahmAI – Science-driven multimodal foundation model for industrial innovation.

• GenLoop’s Yukti, Varta, Kavach – Small language models for all 22 scheduled Indian languages.

• Intellihealth – AI for EEG signal analysis to aid neurological screening.

• Shodh AI – AI-driven material discovery for scientific research.

Wider Initiatives

Alongside the model launches, MeitY announced 30 new IndiaAI Data and AI Labs across Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, the expansion of the IndiaAI Fellowship Program to support 13,500 scholars, and flagship events like the UDAAN AI Pitch Fest, AI Expo, and Research Symposium.

The AI Summit, guided by the principles of People, Planet, and Progress, aims to position India as a global hub for responsible and inclusive AI development.

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