Maharashtra AI policy: Maharashtra govt to draft its AI policy soon

Maharashtra will soon draft its independent artificial intelligence (AI) policy to position the state as a major player in the sector and a leader in technological advancements, a minister has said.State Information and Technology minister Ashish Shelar gave the direction to authorities during a meeting with IT Department officials at the Sahyadri Guest House on Tuesday. The meeting was attended by IT Department secretary Parrag Jaiin Nainutia, MahaIT managing director Jayshree Bhoj, and senior officials from the departments concerned.

During the meeting, Shelar stressed the importance of leveraging AI to boost industries, attract businesses, create employment opportunities, and establish Maharashtra as a major player in the AI sector, an official statement said. He said the AI era has begun and that the state must seize this opportunity. “By adopting AI, we can drive economic growth, generate jobs for the youth, and strengthen our position in the global AI landscape,” he said.

The India AI Mission, launched by the central government earlier this year with a budget of Rs 10,372 crore, aims to enhance AI capabilities across the nation. It includes initiatives such as the India AI Datasets Platform, application development programmes, graphic processing units, innovation centres, skill development and support for startups in the field of AI, the statement said.

Shelar underscored the need for Maharashtra to align its AI ambitions with this national programme to remain competitive. From January 2025, the central government will begin collecting and aggregating non-personal datasets to build a comprehensive database for the India AI Datasets Platform. This will provide seamless access for startups, companies, academics, and researchers to develop AI applications and specialised services, it said.