Building Bharat’s AI Backbone: Nandan Nilekani Commits ₹70 Cr to AI4Bharat at IIT Madras

In a country as linguistically diverse as India, where over a billion people speak more than 20 major languages and hundreds of dialects, the true power of technology is unlocked only when it becomes accessible—in every mother tongue. And that’s exactly the vision Infosys Co-founder and tech philanthropist Nandan Nilekani is betting big on.

In a landmark gesture that reinforces his long-standing commitment to India’s digital future, Nilekani has pledged additional multi-year funding to AI4Bharat, the public-centric AI initiative housed at IIT Madras. With this latest boost, his total contribution has now touched ₹70 crore—a substantial backing for one of India’s most impactful language tech missions.

The announcement was made by the EkStep Foundation, which supports open digital learning and infrastructure at scale. This new round of funding builds on Nilekani’s initial 2022 contribution, which had established the Nilekani Centre at AI4Bharat, setting the stage for a national-level AI infrastructure in Indian languages.

Making AI Speak Like India

AI4Bharat’s mission is ambitious yet essential: to make AI truly inclusive for India by building foundational language models in the 22 scheduled Indian languages.

At its core, the initiative is solving a major challenge in the Indian digital ecosystem—the language divide. From banking apps to government portals, many Indians still struggle to interact with technology because it's not available in their native language.

Here’s what AI4Bharat has already achieved:

• 15,000 hours of transcribed speech collected from 400+ districts

• A bilingual corpus of 2.2 million translation pairs

• Curated by 100+ language experts, linguists, and technologists

• All outputs are open-source, available on platforms like AI4Bharat and AIKosh — India's open AI repository

This open approach is a deliberate move to democratize AI development. Instead of being locked behind corporate firewalls, these tools are available for use by startups, researchers, developers, and public platforms—accelerating innovation across India.

The Man Behind the Mission

In a statement, Nandan Nilekani emphasized the crucial role language plays in making digital transformation inclusive:

“AI4Bharat is creating essential language infrastructure that enables Indian citizens to access digital services in their native languages.”

He further highlighted that India has a unique opportunity to lead in AI application by building on its already robust digital public infrastructure—a reference to successful platforms like Aadhaar, UPI, and CoWIN.

From Research Lab to Real-World Impact

AI4Bharat isn’t just about creating models for the sake of research; its tools are already shaping real-world use cases.

Since the global launch of ChatGPT in 2022, the relevance and demand for Indian language AI models have skyrocketed. AI4Bharat’s models are being embedded into:

• Regional language chatbots

• Educational platforms

• e-Governance tools

In fact, the initiative forms the language layer of India’s AI stack, contributing directly to Bhashini—India’s official language translation mission under the IndiaAI initiative.

Powering Bhashini: India’s Multilingual AI Engine

Bhashini is envisioned as the digital bridge between India’s citizens and public services, using AI to break the language barrier. Here’s how AI4Bharat’s tech is powering it:

• Speech Recognition

• Machine Translation

• Text-to-Speech Technology

These tools are already being used across sectors such as healthcare, banking, governance, and education, making digital services more accessible and efficient for millions.

A New Dawn for India’s AI Ecosystem

At a time when global giants dominate the AI space, India’s approach stands out—open, inclusive, and indigenous. AI4Bharat’s open-source, publicly funded model not only challenges the corporate monopoly in language tech but also strengthens the startup ecosystem.

For Indian AI startups, especially those working in education, fintech, agritech, or healthcare—where multilingual access is critical—this initiative is a game-changer.

It reduces entry barriers, saves developmental cost, and provides a ready-to-use foundation. Moreover, by nurturing talent at the intersection of AI and linguistics, it opens up new career and research opportunities.

Nandan Nilekani’s continued support for AI4Bharat is more than just philanthropy—it’s a strategic investment in India’s linguistic equity in the digital age. As India gears up to become a global force in AI, initiatives like this ensure that no Indian is left behind just because they speak a different language.

The future of AI in India will not be written in one language—and thanks to efforts like AI4Bharat, it won’t have to be.