India to set up LLM for AI research: PM Modi at post-Budget webinar

The Prime Minister was addressing a post-Budget webinar. His statement comes at a time when India is trying to compete with the top global forces in the field of artificial intelligence

 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that India will set up a national large language model (LLM) for AI research and asked for investment in the segment.

 

The Prime Minister was virtually addressing a post-Budget webinar. His statement comes at a time when India is trying to compete with the top global forces in the field of artificial intelligence.

 

PM Modi has been a strong advocate of strengthening AI research in India. On February 10-11, he co-chaired the AI Action Summit in Paris with French President Emmanuel Macron and announced that India was building its own LLM, inspired by the nation's diversity. He called for global collaboration to harness AI for economic growth, social transformation, and sustainable development while advocating for bias-free data sets in AI. 

While virtually addressing the post-budget webinar, the Prime Minister also focused on employment generation. He stated that the government has provided skill training to over 30 million young people since 2014. PM Modi further added, "We have announced plans to upgrade 1,000 ITI institutes and create five Centres of Excellence. Our aim is to ensure that youth training aligns with industry needs... To provide new opportunities and practical skills, we have launched the PM Internship Scheme. We must ensure that businesses of all sizes actively participate in this scheme.

 

 

"In this year's Budget, we announced 10,000 additional medical seats, with a target of adding 75,000 seats in the medical field over the next five years."

 

Focusing on the medical industry, PM Modi also stated that telemedical facilities are being expanded in primary health centres. "Through day-care cancer centres and digital healthcare infrastructure, we aim to provide quality healthcare to the last mile," he noted.

 

PM Modi shares views on investment

 

Addressing the webinar virtually, PM Modi also highlighted investments in India and said, "The vision of investment in people stands on three pillars—Education, Skills, and Healthcare. Today, you can see how India's education system is undergoing a massive transformation after several decades. Major initiatives such as the National Education Policy, expansion of IITs, integration of technology into the education system, full utilisation of AI, digitisation of textbooks, and making study materials available in 22 Indian languages are all underway."

 

He further noted that investment in people, the economy, and innovation is central to India's development roadmap.

 

"You can see its large-scale impact in this year's Budget. This Budget serves as a blueprint for India's future. While we have prioritised infrastructure and industries in investment, we have equally focused on people, the economy, and innovation. Capacity building and talent development form the foundation of the country's progress. Therefore, in the next phase of development, we need to invest even more in these areas," he added.

 

Planned urbanisation

 

In his address, PM Modi stated that by 2047, India's urban population is expected to reach around 900 million, making planned urbanisation essential. Elaborating further, he said, "We have decided to allocate Rs 1 trillion to the Urban Challenge Fund... The private sector, especially the real estate industry, must focus on planned urbanisation."