Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh launched Bharat Gen, India’s first indigenously developed, government-funded, multimodal Large Language Model (LLM) for Indian languages, at the BharatGen Summit—India’s largest generative AI and LLM conference.
Developed under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS) and implemented by the TIH Foundation for IoT and IoE at IIT Bombay, BharatGen integrates text, speech, and image processing to deliver AI solutions in 22 Indian languages. It aims to serve critical sectors like healthcare, education, agriculture, and governance with culturally contextual tools.
Calling BharatGen a “national mission for ethical, inclusive, and multilingual AI,” Dr. Singh emphasized its alignment with Prime Minister Modi’s ‘Techade’ vision, promoting AI for both innovation and inclusion.
He highlighted a real-world impact story from his constituency, where an AI doctor speaking regional languages improved telemedicine trust and outcomes in remote areas.
Dr. Singh also reiterated support for the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (NRF) to boost R&D, and praised over 3,000 Agri-tech Startups, especially those from non-metro regions like Jammu & Kashmir.
The Generative AI Hackathon 2025 was launched to engage student innovators in solving real-world challenges. BharatGen is being implemented through 25 Technology Innovation Hubs (TIHs), four of which have evolved into Technology Translational Research Parks (TTRPs), focusing on technology, entrepreneurship, talent development, and global partnerships.
The summit witnessed participation from top government officials, researchers, and industry leaders including:
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Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Secretary, DST
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V. Srinivas, Secretary, DARPG
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Rajit Punhani, Secretary, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship
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Abhishek Singh, Additional Secretary, MEITY
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Kris Gopalakrishnan, Co-founder, Infosys
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Prof. Ganesh Ramakrishnan, Principal Investigator, BharatGen
Dr. Singh also emphasized the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which encourages interdisciplinary education, allowing students to blend humanities with technology for a more holistic and future-ready learning experience.