India Launches BharatGen to Build Sovereign Multilingual AI Ecosystem

India Unveils BharatGen to Build a Sovereign AI Framework

India has taken a major step toward technological self-reliance with the establishment of the BharatGen Technology Foundation at IIT Bombay. Designed as the backbone of India’s sovereign AI ecosystem, the initiative will develop a multilingual Large Language Model (LLM) capable of understanding the country’s diverse linguistic and cultural landscape. This includes support for over 22 scheduled languages, regional scripts, speech varieties and communication nuances unique to Indian users.

Foundation Established at IIT Bombay

Registered on 7 November 2025 at the institute’s Powai campus, BharatGen marks IIT Bombay’s transition from academic leadership to national-level AI capability building. The foundation aims to create models suited for governance, industry, education and digital services, ensuring India develops AI infrastructure independent of global platforms.

Substantial Government Backing

The project is backed by strong central funding:

• ₹235 crore from the Department of Science and Technology (DST)

• ₹1,058 crore from the Ministry of Electronics and IT under the IndiaAI Mission

This financing is intended to accelerate model training, deployment pipelines and large-scale data curation efforts, enabling swift translation of research into accessible AI solutions.

Collaborative Development and Scaled Access

BharatGen is collaborating with premier IITs and IIITs to build foundational models. A key strategy is the release of lightweight distilled versions of the LLM, enabling startups, researchers and enterprises to adopt AI tools without requiring expensive hardware. This democratised access is expected to boost innovation across sectors.

Exam Oriented Facts

• BharatGen registered on 7 November 2025

• Hosted at IIT Bombay, Powai campus

• Funding: ₹235 crore (DST) + ₹1,058 crore (MeitY)

• Targets 22+ Indian languages

Building India’s Sovereign AI Future

The long-term vision is to create an independent national AI backbone, enabling India-specific applications ranging from digital governance to education, agriculture, health and public communication. BharatGen aims to ensure India shapes its AI destiny on its own terms.