The Odisha government has taken a major step toward building a secure, inclusive, and Odia-first artificial intelligence ecosystem by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Sarvam AI, an Indian artificial intelligence company, to set up a Sovereign AI Park in the state.
The MoU, involving an investment of USD 2.3 billion for a Sovereign AI Capacity Hub hosting around 25,000 GPUs, was signed on February 6, 2026, in the presence of Droupadi Murmu on the sidelines of the Black Swan Summit 2026. The agreement aligns with Odisha's long-term development goals under Vision 2036 and Vision 2047.
The MoU gives impetus towards making AI as a long-term public capability, with an emphasis on sovereign infrastructure, population-scale applications in the Odia language, and durable institutional capacity within the State.
Senior state leaders, including the Governor of Odisha, the Chief Minister, ministers for Electronics & IT and Higher Education, the Chief Secretary, senior officials, and Sarvam's leadership team, were present at the signing ceremony.
Full-stack Sovereign AI Park
The Full-stack Sovereign AI Park, a purpose-built innovation district, will bring together compute, talent, research, startups, global enterprises, and government use-cases within a single integrated physical campus. The Park will make Odisha a net producer and exporter of compute to different states, a landmark step in today’s digital age.
The Park will help in the deployment of population-scale, voice-enabled AI applications across sectors such as education, agriculture, healthcare, e-governance, and public safety. These systems will strengthen last-mile delivery of government schemes by enabling citizens—particularly in rural, tribal, and low-literacy contexts—to access information on entitlements, benefits, and grievance redressal through simple conversational interfaces.
Sarvam is an Indian artificial intelligence company focused on building foundational AI models and systems for Indian languages and public-sector use cases, with particular emphasis on speech, language, and large-scale deployments suited to Indian governance contexts. Its work in local-language and population-scale AI systems positions it as a potential indigenous partner aligned with Odisha’s objectives.
New digital era
Odisha is poised to enter a transformative new digital era, building on its long-standing strengths in minerals, surplus energy, and robust industrial capability. Leveraging these strategic advantages, the state is now charting a decisive course into the domains of digital intelligence and emerging technologies.
The proposed infrastructure is anchored in a dual strategic vision. First, it will function as a state-level AI public utility, enabling the deployment of advanced artificial intelligence solutions across Odisha’s priority sectors such as mining, heavy industries, and skilling. Vision AI applications will enhance safety, regulatory compliance, and operational efficiency at industrial sites, while Odia-to-English voice-enabled tools will strengthen job readiness and skill development for the State’s youth.
Second, Odisha is positioning itself as a key pillar of India’s national AI ecosystem by emerging as the country’s compute backbone. Recognising that India’s AI ambitions could be constrained by limited access to sovereign compute resources, the hub will not only meet Odisha’s requirements but also anchor a nationwide compute grid. Through this initiative, the State will provide reliable, production-grade AI capacity to other States and national digital platforms.
At full scale, this initiative is expected to generate more than 5,000 high-skilled direct and indirect employment opportunities. Odisha will not only participate in the AI revolution but will also provide the infrastructure and talent required to lead it.
The MoU marks the foundation for the development of a Full-Stack Sovereign AI Park in Odisha—a purpose-built innovation district integrating compute infrastructure, talent development, research, startups, global enterprises, and government use cases within a single integrated physical campus.
In addition, the initiative envisions the deployment of population-scale, voice-enabled AI applications across critical sectors such as education, agriculture, healthcare, e-governance, and public safety. These systems are intended to strengthen last-mile delivery of government schemes by enabling citizens—particularly in rural, tribal, and low-literacy contexts—to access information on entitlements, benefits, and grievance redressal through simple conversational interfaces.
