The government has announced the selection of Sarvam AI, a homegrown startup, to develop India’s first indigenous artificial intelligence foundational model. The decision, made from a pool of **67 proposals**, was revealed by **Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw** at an event for the Electronics Components Manufacturing Scheme (ECMS).
Sarvam AI, founded by **Dr Vivek Raghavan and Pratyush Kumar**, secured **$41 million** in its **Series A funding round**, led by **Lightspeed** and backed by **Peak XV Partners** and **Khosla Ventures**. The company aims to build **multi-modal, multi-scale AI foundation models** tailored to India’s unique requirements, ensuring data sovereignty and accessibility.
Vaishnaw expressed confidence in Sarvam AI’s ability to develop models **competitive with global AI frameworks**, reinforcing India’s vision of creating cutting-edge national AI infrastructure. He also indicated that **two to three more startups** would soon be selected to join the initiative.
India’s commitment to AI innovation gained momentum in **2024** with the approval of the **India AI Mission**, which allocated **US Rs. 10.30 billion** over five years to strengthen AI research, data access, and computing power. To facilitate AI development, the government launched **AIKosha**, India’s sovereign datasets platform, and an **AI Compute Portal**, allowing companies to access **subsidized GPUs** for research. Currently, **14,000 GPUs** are live, with **4,000 more** expected soon.
As part of the broader **US Rs. 10 billion IndiaAI Mission**, India has also set a target to develop **domestic GPUs** within the next **three to five years**, enhancing the nation’s computational capabilities. In line with this strategy, the **Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology** had earlier announced the procurement of **18,693 GPUs** from selected vendors to support AI infrastructure expansion.
Sarvam AI’s selection marks a defining moment in India’s ambition to establish AI leadership, ensuring **data integrity, accessibility, and technological competitiveness** on the global stage.
