Centre for Indian language technology launched at IIT Madras with grants from Nilekani Philanthropies

Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], July 28 : Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras), with a financial grant of Rs 36 crore from a non-profit education platform Nilekani Philanthropies, launched a centre to advance the state of Indian language technology.
This new center named 'Nilekani Centre at AI4Bharat' is expected to work in advancing Indian language technology besides creating a wider social impact. AI4Bharat was set up as an initiative of IIT Madras to build open-source language AI for Indian languages.
It was inaugurated at the IIT Madras campus by the co-founder of IT services major Infosys Nandan Nilekani. Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) was established in 1959 by the Government of India as an 'Institute of National Importance.'
"The Digital India Bhashini mission has been launched with the goal of all services and information being available to citizens in their own language with 'collaborative AI' at the core of the design. AI4Bharat will further contribute to and accelerate the Indic language AI work as a public good and is fully aligned with the goals of the Bhashini mission," Nandan Nilekani said.
To mark the formal launch, a workshop open to students, researchers, and startups was held to discuss the resources available to build Indian language technologies.
"I am happy that IIT Madras is taking a leadership role in Indian language AI which is of national importance. I am looking forward to AI4Bharat's cutting-edge research being translated to real-world use," said V Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras.
IITs have been at the forefront of innovation and attracted a lot of grants and contributions from industries and various other stakeholders.