Budget 2023 gives a boost to artificial intelligence – government to set up three centers of excellence

• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today presented the Budget 2023 in the parliament.
• The minister has announced that the government is setting up three centers of excellence in artificial intelligence.
• The centers will be set up in prominent educational institutions.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today presented the Budget 2023 in the parliament. As part of the budget, the minister announced that the government is setting up three centers of excellence in artificial intelligence (AI) in the country as part of the government’s “Make AI for India” and “Make AI work for India” initiatives.

The centers will be set up in prominent educational institutions in the country and will see collaboration between these institutions and leading industries in the country. The main goal of these centers will be to research and develop practical AI applications in agriculture, health, and sustainable cities.

"Three centers of excellence for Artificial Intelligence will be set up in top educational institutions. Leading industry players will partner in conducting interdisciplinary research, develop cutting-edge applications and scalable problem solutions in the areas of Agriculture, Health, and sustainable cities,” said Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance Minister in the parliament.

“This will galvanize an effective AI ecosystem and nurture quality human resources in the field,” the minister added.

Significance of these centres

Artificial intelligence has become one of the most important skills. The government’s push to set up these centers will ensure that students are well-versed in technology, ensuring that the country is future-ready.

Experts and industry leaders have hailed the move, saying it will boost the economy and India’s growth.

“Innovative digital technologies like AI, and Machine Learning is a big step towards promoting financial inclusion in India, enabling industries across sectors to become accessible to a wider section of population. This will result in boosting service delivery and enable various sections of society to actively participate in financial ecosystems,” said Rajsri Rengan, Head of Banking and Payments, India and Philippines, FIS.

According to Rengan, these centers will also help improve the financial ecosystem as improved AI and machine learning applications will help promote financial inclusion and make services accessible to more people in the country.

“The Government continues to focus on the use of technology in order to bring in Minimum Government and Maximum Governance. The announcement to set up three centers of excellence for artificial intelligence to enable 'Make AI for India' and 'Make AI work for India' will further help India in its growth trajectory with able use of technology, said Gunjan Prabhakaran, partner and leader, Indirect Tax, BDO India.

Companies like Google and Microsoft have been focusing on AI and machine learning for a long time now. Google’s India Research Lab has been using AI and machine learning to improve healthcare services, public health, wildlife conservation, prevention of diseases, and more.

In addition to setting up centers of excellence for AI, the government has also announced that it is setting up 100 labs in engineering institutions to develop applications using 5G services.

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