India’s First Indigenous Language AI Model BharatGen

India’s First Indigenous Language AI Model BharatGen

Why in News? 

Recently, during the ‘BharatGen Summit’, Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh launched “BharatGen”, India’s first government-backed indigenous language AI model. This AI model will provide a new direction for generative AI in Indian languages.

What is India’s First Indigenous Language AI Model BharatGen?

• BharatGen is an indigenous Artificial Intelligence (AI) based multimodal Large Language Model (LLM) that is based on Generative AI technology. 
• It creates content across multiple modes—text, speech, visuals, and video—making AI more versatile.
• Its mission is to enable apps that speak and understand India’s diverse languages.
• BharatGen has been developed under the BharatGen program, which is entirely based on government funding. 
• It has been developed in collaboration with leading technical institutions and researchers in the country. 
• This is an indigenous effort towards making India self-reliant in the AI sector. 
• The development of BharatGen has been carried out under the National Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems Mission (NM-ICPS). 
  • This mission was launched by the Government of India to achieve self-reliance in advanced technology sectors.

Key Features of BharatGen

• Multilingual Capability: BharatGen has the ability to understand and generate text, speech, and images. This model can work in 22 Indian languages, making it easier to create communication-enabled applications in local languages. 
  • Its multimodal structure enables it to understand input and provide output in different formats simultaneously.
• High Quality: This model is trained entirely on linguistic data collected in India, including literary articles, news reports, speech recordings, and content taken from social contexts. As a result, BharatGen can generate content that is in line with the Indian socio-cultural background. It also incorporates those Indian languages whose digital presence is very limited.
• Open-Source: BharatGen has been developed as an open-source foundational model, so that every citizen, researcher, and developer can use it. Its objective is not only to develop AI technology but also to make it available for public interest. It has adopted data-efficient learning techniques, which enable the creation of accurate and effective models even with less data.

Role of Key Institutions in the Development of BharatGen

• IIT Bombay: IIT Bombay has played a central role as the key technical backbone of the initiative. The institute has contributed to technical development, as well as actively participated in data training, linguistic modeling, and creating user-friendly algorithms.
• TIH Foundation for IoT & IoE: The TIH Foundation for IoT & IoE at IIT Bombay has overseen the project’s planning and execution.
  • This foundation operates under the NM-ICPS mission and accelerates technological innovation and research in areas such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and the Internet of Everything (IoE) in the country.
• Department of Science and Technology: The central Department of Science and Technology (DST) has provided financial support and policy guidance for this project.
• Other Partners: The development of BharatGen has also seen active cooperation from other leading educational institutions, technical experts, and researchers in the country.

Utility and Applications of BharatGen in Generative AI

• Efficiency in Government Services: The biggest contribution of BharatGen will be in increasing the speed and transparency of the government machinery. This model will establish simple and effective communication in local languages through the translation of government documents, grievance redressal systems, and policy communication. This will enable citizens in remote areas to receive information in their own language, reducing administrative complexities.
• Linguistic Empowerment in the Education System: BharatGen is capable of bringing a new revolution in the field of education. This model can provide study material, educational videos, and interactive course material to students and teachers in their mother tongue. 
• Convenience in Healthcare Services: BharatGen can be used in the field of healthcare services to convey medical advice, diagnosis-related information, and medicine instructions in the common person’s language. BharatGen will make the treatment process multilingual, providing understanding to every person in their own language.
• Solutions in the Agricultural Sector: Establishing communication in the language of farmers is a major strength of BharatGen. Information related to agriculture, such as weather forecasts, crop advice, government schemes, and pest control measures – will now be available to farmers in their mother tongue. This will lead to effective dissemination of information and enable farmers to adopt modern agricultural techniques.
• Linguistic Inclusivity: Until now, global AI models have primarily focused on English, leading to the digital neglect of Indian languages. The BharatGen model is capable of working in 22 Indian languages, giving every language, dialect, and culture an equal opportunity technologically. 

Importance of BharatGen in the Atmanirbhar Bharat Mission

• Technical Self-Reliance:

• • • BharatGen is a foundational AI system developed entirely by Indian research institutions. 
    • By relying on indigenous development, the project reduces India’s need for foreign AI models.
    • This will reduce the need for foreign generative AI tools and enable India to develop its own solutions.

• Support for Startups and Innovation:

• The open-source nature of BharatGen provides cutting-edge AI capabilities to budding startups, innovators, and researchers. 
• This allows even small technical institutions to develop their own AI solutions. 
• It encourages the creation of new products and services at the local level, thereby expanding the indigenous innovation culture.

Other Major AI Development Initiatives in India

• India AI Mission: The India AI Mission is a national-level AI strategy operated by the Digital India Corporation (DIC). This initiative strives to establish India on the global stage in the field of AI research, policy formulation, and innovation.

• National AI Portal (INDIAai): The INDIAai portal is an integrated platform for AI information and resources in India. It has been created through the joint efforts of MeitY, NeGD, and NASSCOM. This portal is designed to provide reliable AI content to the general public, students, researchers, and policymakers. It is a consolidated repository of AI-related news, research papers, startups, case studies, and government policies.

• AIRAWAT Platform: AIRAWAT is India’s high-level AI supercomputing infrastructure, developed to promote AI research, data analysis, and innovation. This platform specifically provides abundant computing resources and data processing capabilities to AI startups, educational institutions, and government laboratories.

• GPAI: India is a founding member of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI). This platform brings together countries from around the world to promote the ethical, responsible, and inclusive use of AI. Through this partnership, India is playing a leading role in policy, data security, ethical guidelines, and global cooperation.

• National AI Skilling: The National AI Skilling Program and the YuvaAI Initiative are jointly making Indian youth aware, trained, and capable in AI. Through these programs, students, youth, and working professionals are taught basic to advanced AI skills.