IBM and Andhra Pradesh Govt Collaborate on Indigenous AI Technology Stack

The Government of Andhra Pradesh has announced a major collaboration with IBM, BharatGen, and NxtGen to build a “Swadeshi Sovereign AI Stack”—a framework designed to deliver citizen-centric digital services in regional languages like Telugu.

Key Highlights of the Collaboration

• Sovereign AI Framework: The initiative focuses on creating an AI stack that unifies models, government datasets, institutional data, software platforms, and deployment tools into one cohesive system.
• Citizen-Centric Services: Tailored AI solutions will be developed for governance and service delivery, with emphasis on accessibility in local languages.
• Strategic Inputs: IBM, BharatGen, and NxtGen will provide technical and strategic guidance on design, architecture, and operating models.
• Cultural & Linguistic Context: The stack is intended to strengthen India’s AI capabilities by embedding linguistic diversity and cultural relevance into its foundation.
• Deployment Flexibility: It can run on sovereign cloud platforms or on-premises data centers, ensuring data control and security.

Broader Implications

• Governance: Enhanced transparency and efficiency in public service delivery.
• Innovation Ecosystem: Andhra Pradesh positions itself as a hub for responsible and applied AI, potentially boosting startups and local tech industries.
• Digital Sovereignty: Reduces reliance on foreign AI systems by building indigenous capabilities.

BharatGen

BharatGen is India’s first sovereign generative AI ecosystem, launched to create foundational models that reflect the country’s linguistic and cultural diversity. Its mission is to build large language models (LLMs), speech systems, and computer vision tools that can operate across India’s 22+ official languages. By assembling one of the largest open datasets in the country, BharatGen aims to empower public service delivery, education, and citizen engagement through AI that is truly indigenous. The initiative is positioned as a cornerstone for India’s digital sovereignty, reducing dependence on foreign AI systems and ensuring that governance tools are culturally and linguistically aligned with the population.

NxtGen

NxtGen is a Bengaluru‑based sovereign cloud and AI infrastructure provider, specializing in secure, scalable platforms that operate free from foreign jurisdiction. It runs SpeedCloud® (public cloud) and SpeedCloud Supreme (private cloud), offering enterprises and governments flexible deployment options. Recently, NxtGen established a national‑scale sovereign AI factory powered by NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs and Vertiv’s advanced data center systems, enabling AI training and inference at population scale. Its infrastructure is designed to host and deploy indigenous AI models like those from BharatGen, ensuring that India’s digital future is built on sovereign, secure, and locally controlled technology.

Together, BharatGen and NxtGen complement IBM’s expertise by providing the AI models and the sovereign cloud infrastructure needed to operationalize Andhra Pradesh’s Swadeshi Sovereign AI Stack.

India Launches BharatGen, the World’s 1st Govt-Funded Multimodal LLM Project

India has just launched the BharatGen project, a pioneering initiative aimed at developing generative AI in Indian languages. This state-funded project is spearheaded by IIT Bombay under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS).

BharatGen is notable for being the world's first government-funded multimodal large language model project. It aims to create high-quality text and multimodal content in various Indian languages, making AI more accessible and inclusive. The project will benefit government, private, educational, and research institutions, and is expected to be completed in two years.

AtmaNirbhar Bharat, Promoting Indian Languages & Social Equity

By leveraging generative AI, the BharatGen project can help preserve and promote the rich linguistic diversity of India. This initiative not only supports cultural heritage but also ensures that technological advancements are inclusive and accessible to a broader population.

BharatGen aligns with the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat by creating foundational AI models specifically tailored for India. By developing AI technologies within India, BharatGen reduces reliance on foreign technologies and strengthens the domestic AI ecosystem for startups, industries, and government agencies.

Democratizing access to AI through foundational models and detailed technical recipes it allows innovators, researchers, and startups to build AI applications quickly and affordably. A core feature of BharatGen is its focus on data-efficient learning, particularly for Indian languages with limited digital presence. Through fundamental research and collaboration with academic institutions, the initiative will develop models that are effective with minimal data—a critical need for languages underserved by global AI initiatives. BharatGen will also foster a vibrant AI research community through training programs, hackathons, and collaborations with global experts.

One of the primary goals of BharatGen is to deliver generative AI models and applications as a public good. This means prioritizing India’s socio-cultural and linguistic diversity while ensuring that the benefits of AI reach all segments of society.

This initiative also aligns with India's broader goals of promoting social equity, cultural preservation, and linguistic diversity through advanced AI technologies.

Technical Aspects of BharatGen.

The BharatGen project is being developed by a consortium led by IIT Bombay under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS). The project is managed by the TIH Foundation for IoT and IOE at IIT Bombay.

Several premier academic institutions are involved in this initiative, including IIIT Hyderabad, IIT Mandi, IIT Kanpur, IIT Hyderabad, IIM Indore and IIT Madras.

This collaborative effort aims to create generative AI systems that can produce high-quality text and multimodal content in various Indian languages.

BharatGen focuses on developing multimodal large language models that can handle text, speech, and computer vision tasks. This means the models will be capable of understanding and generating content across different types of media. BharatGen will be developed as an open-source platform. This approach encourages collaboration and innovation, allowing researchers and developers to contribute to and benefit from the project.

The models will be built and trained using datasets that are specifically curated to represent Indian languages and contexts. This ensures that the AI is culturally and contextually relevant.

BharatGen’s roadmap outlines key milestones up to July 2026. These include extensive AI model development, experimentation, and the establishment of AI benchmarks tailored to India’s needs. BharatGen will also focus on scaling AI adoption across industries and public initiatives.