Budget 2025 Highlight | Budget Explained: What It Means for India's AI Future

The Union Budget 2025 placed a significant emphasis on new and emerging technologies, as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled a national framework for Global Capability Centres (GCCs) and announced a Rs 500 crore Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence (AI) dedicated to education. Additionally, she indicated that a deep tech 'Fund of Funds' will be developed to support the next generation of startups. The government allocated Rs 2,000 crore to the IndiaAI Mission, marking a remarkable 262% increase from the previous year's budget of Rs 551.75 crore. A national framework will be formulated as guidance to states for promoting Global Capability Centres in emerging Tier-2 cities. This will suggest measures for enhancing availability of talent and infrastructure, building byelaw reforms, and mechanisms for collaboration with industry. Outlining the country's AI ambitions, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw earlier this week announced empanelment of 18,693 graphics processing unit (GPUs) under common computing facility. It was also announced that DeepSeek, an open-source model, will soon be hosted on Indian servers to address data security and privacy concerns over the Chinese AI platform.