Google announces ₹85 crore grant to bring AI to Indian classrooms

Google pledges Rs 85 crore to Wadhwani AI to boost AI in education, support 75M students, and launch India's first AI-enabled university at CCSU

Tech giant Google on Wednesday announced a grant worth ₹85 crore (nearly $10 million) to non-profit organisation Wadhwani AI to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) in government-owned education and development platforms.

 

Through this grant, the firm is targeting to support 75 million students, 1.8 million educators, and a million early career professionals by 2027-end. 

 

“We have tools like the POSHAN Tracker, SWAYAM, and more, and the aim is to strengthen these existing public infrastructure tools and platforms and deliver truly high quality learning experiences from early childhood through higher education,” Preeti Lobana, vice-president and country manager of Google India said.

 

 

Lobana added that the initiative has already reached 10 million students and educators, and will use voice-AI to help students build oral reading fluency in 10 Indian languages.

 

The firm also unveiled a new Gemini feature, launched in collaboration with education technology startup PhysicsWallah and Careers360, that allows students to take JEE Mains mock tests.

 

In addition, it announced collaboration with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Chaudhary Charan Singh University (CCSU) in Meerut to set up the country’s first AI-enabled university.

 

“Using Google Cloud and Gemini, CCSU aims to transform its teaching methods and operations. For students, this means access to personalised AI tutors and skill gap analysis to help them align their learning with workforce needs. For educators, AI will help design teaching content and multilingual aids. And for administrators, intelligent automation will help streamline workflows,” the company said in a statement.

 

Google said India is home to one of the world’s largest communities of AI-powered learners, with the country recording the highest usage of Gemini for learning globally. It mentioned that a survey on the impact of these showed that for students who had access, 95 per cent felt more confident as the platform assisted them with various tasks such as preparing for job interviews and building academic plans.