What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)?

 SET:S&T/Artificial Intelligence(AI)/30122025 

Notes on:  AI in India

Topic : AI in India  (for G S Papers) {Prepared on 30.12.2025 } 

For Study purpose only 

NB: For any doubts clarification, please refer to the recommended text books 

TOPIC : AI in India  (with questions for UPSC(CSE)(Prelims) Exams. ,2026 

Qiuestopm” : What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)?

Ans : 

1)Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the ability of machines to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence. 

2)It enables systems to learn from experience, adapt to new situations, and solve complex problems independently. 

3)AI uses datasets, algorithms, and large language models to analyse information, recognise patterns, and generate responses. 

4)Over time, these systems improve their performance, allowing them to reason, make decisions, and communicate in ways similar to humans

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Question: What is GPU ?

Ans: A GPU or Graphics Processing Unit is a powerful computer chip that helps machines (i.e.,computers)think faster, process images, run AI programs, and handle complex tasks more efficiently than a regular processor.

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Question : What are the Seven Pillars of India AI Mission ?

Ans : 

1)India AI Compute Pillar : This pillar provides high-end GPUs at affordable costs. As mentioned earlier, over 38,000 GPUs have been onboarded. These GPUs are available at a subsidized rate of just Rs.65 per hour.

2)India AI Application Development Initiatives : This pillar develops AI applications for India-specific challenges. Sectors include healthcare, agriculture, climate change, governance, and assistive learning technologies. Thirty applications have been approved by July 2025. Sector-specific hackathons are organized with ministries and institutions. For example, the CyberGuard AI Hackathon helps develop AI solutions for cybersecurity.

3. AIKosh (Dataset Platform):

AIKosh develops large datasets for training AI models. It integrates data from government and non-government sources. The platform has over 5,500 datasets and 251 AI models across 20 sectors. These resources help developers focus on AI solutions instead of building basic modules. The platform has over 385,000 visits, 11,000 registered users, and 26,000 downloads by December 2025.

4) IndiaAI Foundation Models:

This pillar develops India’s own Large Multimodal Models using Indian data and languages. It ensures sovereign capability and global competitiveness in generative AI. IndiaAI received over 500 proposals. In the first and second phase, twelve startups were selected: Sarvam AI, Soket AI, Gnani AI, Gan AI, Avaatar AI, IIT Bombay consortium – BharatGen, Zenteiq, Gen Loop, Intellihealth, Shodh AI, Fractal Analytics, Tech Mahindra Maker’s Lab.

5) IndiaAI Future Skills:

This pillar builds AI-skilled professionals. Support is provided to 500 PhD fellows, 5,000 postgraduates, and 8,000 undergraduates. Over 200 students received fellowships by July 2025. 73 institutes onboarding PhD students. Data and AI Labs are being set up in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. Thirty-One labs have been launched with NIELIT and Industry Partners. States and UTs nominated 174 ITIs and polytechnics for labs.

6)IndiaAI Startup Financing:

This pillar provides financial support to AI startups. The IndiaAI Startups Global program launched in March 2025. It helps 10 Indian startups expand into the European market in collaboration with Station F and HEC Paris.

7)Safe and Trusted AI : 

This pillar ensures responsible AI adoption with strong governance. 13 projects have been selected and initiated through Expressions of Interest. They focus on machine unlearning, bias mitigation, privacy-preserving ML, explainability, auditing, and governance testing. An additional expression of interest was published on 9 May 2025 for partner institutions to join the IndiaAI Safety Institute.

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Question : What are the key points in AI India ?

Ans : 

1)Rs.10,300+ crore allocated over five years for IndiaAI Mission with 38,000 GPUs deployed.

2)6 million people are employed in the tech and AI ecosystem.

3)Indian Tech sector is projected to cross $280 billion in revenue this year.

4)AI could add $1.7 trillion to India’s economy by 2035.

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Question : What are the AI ecosystems at present in India ?

Ans : 

1)India’s technology sector is expanding rapidly, with annual revenues projected to cross USD 280 billion this year(2025).

2)Over 6 million people are employed in the tech and AI ecosystem.

3) India  hosts 1,800+ Global Capability Centres, including more than 500 focused on AI.

4)India has around 1.8 lakh startups, and nearly 89% of new startups launched last year used AI in their products or services.

5)On the NASSCOM AI Adoption Index, India scores 2.45 out of 4, showing that 87% of enterprises are actively using AI solutions.

6)Leading sectors in AI adoption include industrial and automotive, consumer goods and retail, banking, financial services and insurance, and healthcare. Together they contribute around 60 percent of AI’s total value.

7)About 26% of Indian companies have achieved AI maturity at scale, according to a recent BCG survey.

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