The IndiaAI Mission has received as many as 120 applications for building India's sovereign AI foundation models in the second round which closed on March 15.
The number of proposals is double of what was received in the first round, which was 67 proposals. This brings the total number of applications so far received to a whopping 187. The ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) aims to provide approvals to at least a few applications by the month end, a senior government official told ET.
"We aim to give approval to least a few proposals by end of this financial year," the official said adding that the interest from the government backed initiative has been tremendous. The proposals are not just from firms or individuals from India but several of them are coming from abroad.
Firms are planning to incorporate in India for the purpose of building foundation models in India for which they are also getting government funding, the official quoted earlier said. Startups with teams in Singapore, San Francisco and other countries have also applied, the official added. Some applications have also come from students studying at educational institutions like Stanford University. IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had recently told ET "We should have three foundational models by the end of this year."
The government's total funding window for the project is ₹1,500 crore. "In the first month, IndiaAI Mission had received a total of 67 proposals till February 15 with contributions from both established startups and new teams of researchers and academia," IT MoS Jatin Prasada had said recently in the Lok Sabha in a written response.
The number of proposals is double of what was received in the first round, which was 67 proposals. This brings the total number of applications so far received to a whopping 187. The ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) aims to provide approvals to at least a few applications by the month end, a senior government official told ET.
"We aim to give approval to least a few proposals by end of this financial year," the official said adding that the interest from the government backed initiative has been tremendous. The proposals are not just from firms or individuals from India but several of them are coming from abroad.
Firms are planning to incorporate in India for the purpose of building foundation models in India for which they are also getting government funding, the official quoted earlier said. Startups with teams in Singapore, San Francisco and other countries have also applied, the official added. Some applications have also come from students studying at educational institutions like Stanford University. IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had recently told ET "We should have three foundational models by the end of this year."
The government's total funding window for the project is ₹1,500 crore. "In the first month, IndiaAI Mission had received a total of 67 proposals till February 15 with contributions from both established startups and new teams of researchers and academia," IT MoS Jatin Prasada had said recently in the Lok Sabha in a written response.
