BharatGen AI to complete text services in all 22 Indian languages by month-end: Jitendra Singh
BharatGen, the government’s sovereign multilingual AI engine, is set to complete text-based services in all 22 official Indian languages by the end of this month, Union Minister Jitendra Singh told the Rajya Sabha.
The government’s sovereign multilingual AI engine, BharatGen, is expected to complete its text-based services by the end of this month, Union Minister Jitendra Singh informed the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. Replying to a supplementary question by BJP member Bhubaneswar Kalita, the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology said the development of BharatGen AI is a dynamic process and may expand to include more languages and dialects over time.
“We have already completed 15 languages. We will be completing 22 official languages this month itself. So, all 22 languages will have text completed by this month, and 15 will also have the speech and vision modules,” Singh said.
BharatGen being developed through National Innovation Hubs
The minister said the BharatGen initiative is being implemented through a network of 25 Technology Innovation Hubs (TIHs), four of which have been upgraded to Technology Translational Research Parks (TTRPs).
Data sharing and pricing under discussion
Responding to a question by BJD member Sasmit Patra on data sharing with Indian innovators and pricing, Singh said BharatGen data will be shared under specific terms and conditions. He added that discussions are currently underway to offer BharatGen services at a discounted price.
GPU access and AI infrastructure support
AAP member Raghav Chadha raised concerns regarding predictable access to graphics processing units (GPUs) to meet the computational needs of artificial intelligence development.
In response, Singh said GPUs are central to AI development, noting that large AI models may require thousands of GPUs. He added that access to computing resources is being provided through the IndiaAI mission.
“We are in an evolving mode. The mission has just started, but we are very aware and cautious of challenges. As far as funding is concerned, one good initiative of this government is that we have opened up to the private sector. We are also encouraging more investments from non-government entities,” Singh said.
About BharatGen AI Initiative
Launched in October 2024, BharatGen is the first government-supported national initiative aimed at developing sovereign foundational AI models tailored to Indian languages and societal needs.
The platform will offer multiple AI services, including:
- Text services through Large Language Models (LLMs)
- Speech services such as Text-to-Speech and Automatic Speech Recognition
- Vision-language systems
At present, BharatGen AI supports 15 Indian languages, including Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Maithili, Malayalam, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, and Telugu.