TLDR: India has announced its readiness to share its artificial intelligence models with countries in the Global South. This initiative, highlighted by S Krishnan, Secretary at the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), at FICCI’s Bhashantara 2025 conference, underscores India’s commitment to inclusive technology development. The country’s diverse linguistic landscape is seen as a unique advantage in creating adaptable AI solutions for resource-constrained, multilingual environments.
New Delhi, July 25, 2025 – India is poised to become a significant contributor to global AI development, with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) declaring its intent to share its artificial intelligence models with nations across the Global South. This strategic move was articulated by S Krishnan, Secretary, MeitY, during his address at FICCI’s flagship language technology conference, Bhashantara 2025.
Krishnan emphasized India’s distinctive position in fostering multilingual AI solutions, stating, ‘If you can do it in India, you can do it practically anywhere else in the world.’ This assertion highlights India’s vast linguistic diversity as a robust testing ground for AI systems designed to operate effectively in resource-constrained, multilingual settings, making them highly suitable for countries in the Global South.
Key initiatives under the India AI Mission were underscored by the Secretary. Among them is AI Kosh, a national repository boasting over 400 datasets, established to empower researchers and entrepreneurs in the development of multilingual AI applications. Furthermore, Mission Bhashini and Anuvadini were cited as pioneering programs dedicated to advancing language technology, with a focus not only on mainstream languages but also on regional dialects.
India’s commitment extends to digitizing extensive repositories of traditional knowledge, including Ayurvedic texts and historical manuscripts. This endeavor aims to create global datasets that can be leveraged for advancements in healthcare and research. Unlike many nations that rely solely on state or private funding, India’s approach to AI development is characterized by a multi-stakeholder ecosystem, actively involving academia, industry, and various research institutions.
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The conference also served as a platform for industry leaders to discuss actionable steps for accelerating multilingual AI capabilities. Harsh Dhand, Research & AI Partnerships APAC Lead at Google and Co-Chair of FICCI’s Multilingual Internet Committee, urged the government to unlock historical data from institutions such as Prasar Bharati and All India Radio, advocating for a broader ‘Make in India’ program and strategic collaborations with research institutions. The IndiaAI Mission, backed by an outlay of ₹10,000 crore, is actively supporting startups like Sarvam AI, Soket AI, and Gnani AI in developing indigenous Large Language Models (LLMs), providing crucial support including subsidized access to GPUs for cost-effective development and experimentation. India’s openness to sharing its AI models has already garnered interest from United Nations officials, who have expressed enthusiasm for the country’s collaborative approach to AI development.
