- 20 ITIs and 17 Polytechnics identified under IndiaAI Mission to build job-ready talent
- 23 IndiaAI Fellowships to strengthen Gujarat’s undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD research pipeline
- Two AI Centres of Excellence to deepen startup, MSME and academic innovation ecosystem
- Subsidised high-end GPU access brings advanced AI computing within reach of Gujarat institutions
NE EDUCATION BUREAU
AHMEDABAD, AUG 3
The next great advantage Gujarat may not lie beneath its soil or along its industrial corridors—it could be inside its classrooms, laboratories and computer screens. As artificial intelligence reshapes the world of work, Gujarat is building an emerging AI advantage from the ground up, with 37 ITIs and polytechnics identified for Data & AI Labs, dedicated fellowships for AI researchers, Centres of Excellence and subsidised access to high-performance computing.
The State’s growing AI education ecosystem has come into sharper focus following a reply by Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Jitin Prasada in the Rajya Sabha to AI-related questions raised by Rajya Sabha MP Parimal Nathwani.
Under the IndiaAI Mission, 20 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and 17 Polytechnics in Gujarat have been identified for establishing Data & AI Labs. These institutions will form part of the IndiaAI FutureSkills pillar and provide training in artificial intelligence, data annotation, data curation and applied data science.
The initiative could prove particularly significant for Gujarat because it takes AI education beyond elite technology institutions and opens the skilling pipeline to students pursuing technical and vocational education.
From ITIs to AI: Gujarat builds a future-skills pipeline
The most striking aspect of the initiative is its potential reach.
By embedding Data & AI Labs in ITIs and Polytechnics, the IndiaAI Mission is seeking to create a workforce that can participate in an economy increasingly driven by data, automation, intelligent systems and AI-enabled manufacturing and services.
For Gujarat—with its strong manufacturing, engineering, pharmaceutical, financial, dairy, logistics and technology ecosystems—the ability to connect technical education with emerging AI capabilities could become a major competitive advantage.
The proposed labs will train students in practical areas including AI, data annotation, data curation and applied data science, helping bridge the gap between conventional technical education and the rapidly changing demands of industry.
It also creates an opportunity for Gujarat to develop AI talent not only for technology companies, but for its wider industrial ecosystem.
23 fellowships to nurture Gujarat’s AI research minds
The State’s AI push extends beyond vocational skilling.
Gujarat has been awarded 23 IndiaAI Fellowships under the FutureSkills pillar, comprising four Undergraduate, 12 Postgraduate and seven PhD Research Fellowships.
The fellowship programme is designed to strengthen India’s AI talent pipeline by supporting scholars pursuing AI research at different academic levels.
For Gujarat’s universities and research institutions, the opportunity is potentially transformative: AI education can evolve from classroom instruction into research, experimentation and intellectual-property creation.
The State has also been allocated two Artificial Intelligence Centres of Excellence (AI-CoEs) under the IndiaAI Startup Financing pillar.
These Centres are expected to strengthen the regional innovation ecosystem and provide focused support to startups, MSMEs and academic institutions, creating a bridge between research, entrepreneurship and commercial application.
₹65 GPU-hour access: Computing power moves closer to innovators
Artificial intelligence needs more than talent—it needs computing power.
The IndiaAI Compute pillar seeks to democratise access to high-performance AI computing by providing subsidised GPU access at an average rate of approximately ₹65 per GPU-hour through 15 empanelled Compute Service Providers (CSPs).
The facility is open to startups, researchers, MSMEs, academic institutions and government organisations.
In Gujarat, subsidised access to high-end GPU computing has been allocated to State-based entities, including Gujarat Informatics Limited (GIL) and Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Limited (Amul).
The significance goes beyond cheaper computing. Access to high-end GPUs can lower one of the biggest barriers confronting smaller innovators—the cost of experimenting with, training and deploying AI models.
For Gujarat’s startups and institutions, that could mean more prototypes, more research and potentially more AI applications emerging from the State.
IndiaAI: A ₹10,371.92-cr national bet on Artificial Intelligence
Gujarat’s emerging AI ecosystem is part of a much larger national strategy.
The Government approved the IndiaAI Mission on March 7, 2024, with a total outlay of ₹10,371.92 crore over five years. The Mission operates through seven pillars: IndiaAI Compute, IndiaAI Foundation Models, AIKosh (Datasets Platform), IndiaAI Application Development Initiative (IADI), IndiaAI FutureSkills, IndiaAI Startup Financing, and Safe & Trusted AI.
Under the IADI pillar, the Mission has already launched 11 national-level hackathons and innovation challenges, seeking to stimulate AI-led problem-solving and innovation.
The national AI strategy builds on India’s formidable technology base, with the country’s IT sector generating around $300 billion in annual revenue and employing a 60-lakh-strong workforce, according to the Minister’s reply.
For Gujarat, however, the real opportunity is to ensure that this national AI momentum translates into local talent, local innovation and local jobs.
The State already possesses a powerful industrial foundation. Add AI-enabled skills to its ITIs, Polytechnics, universities, startups and MSMEs, and Gujarat could potentially turn its traditional industrial advantage into an AI-powered competitive advantage.
The question now is not whether AI will transform education and employment—it is how quickly Gujarat can equip its students to lead that transformation.
