Kerala gets two AI Centres of Excellence under India AI Mission
The Kerala government, in partnership with India AI Mission and MeitY, has approved two ₹20 crore AI Centres of Excellence—one for Bio-AI in Kochi and another for general AI in Thiruvananthapuram—to foster research, startups, and job creation. The Bio-AI Centre will integrate AI with Kerala’s biodiversity, Ayurveda, and genomics, while the Digital University Kerala CoE will focus on applied AI, incubation, and commercialization of solutions.
The Kerala government has launched two Artificial Intelligence Centres of Excellence (AI-CoEs) under the India AI Mission, with each centre receiving ₹20 crore in funding. The first, a Bio-AI hub at Kerala Startup Mission’s Digital Hub in Kochi, will combine AI with Kerala’s biodiversity, Ayurvedic knowledge, and genomics research, leveraging the ‘Tejaswi’ supercomputer and Kerala Genome Data Centre. The project, themed ‘Nature Meets Compute,’ involves a 40:40:20 funding model from MeitY, the state government, and industry partners including Synthite Industries and Mane Kancor. It aims to incubate 48 deep-tech startups, create 600 jobs, and train 1,200 professionals in bioinformatics over four years. The second AI-CoE will operate under Digital University Kerala in Thiruvananthapuram, focusing on applied AI research, startup incubation, and industry collaboration. The 10,000 sq. ft. facility will host mentorship programs, hackathons, and accelerator support to commercialize AI-driven solutions across sectors. Digital University Kerala, recognized by CERT-In for information security and CMMI Level 3 certified, will lead the initiative. State IT Minister P. K. Kunhalikutty stated the centers will build a comprehensive AI ecosystem in Kerala by merging advanced research with industry applications. The Bio-AI Centre will deploy AI tools for over 40,000 spice farmers, targeting a 20% income increase, while developing 20 proprietary IP assets in drug discovery, agri-tech, and genomics. Both centers were approved under the Startup Financing Pillar of the India AI Mission, marking a significant step toward positioning Kerala as a hub for AI innovation.
This content was automatically generated and/or translated by AI. It may contain inaccuracies. Please refer to the original sources for verification.