A Task Force on Artificial Intelligence (AI) for India’s Economic Transformation was constituted on 24th August 2017.  The Task Force gave its report on 19th January 2018. It has recommended an Inter-Ministerial National Artificial Intelligence Mission to act as a nodal agency for coordinating AI related activities in India. The recommendations of the Task Force have been shared with various Ministries and Departments of the Government of India.

In the meeting of Committee of Secretaries held on 8th February, 2018, NITI Aayog has been tasked with formulation of a National Strategy Plan for AI in consultation with Ministries and Departments concerned, academia and private sector.

NITI Aayog has prepared and placed on its website on 4th June 2018 a discussion paper on National Strategy on Artificial Intelligence identifying following five sectors to befocused upon: Healthcare, Agriculture,Education, Smart Cities and Infrastructure, Smart Mobility and Transportation.

In order to create a policy framework and to develop the ecosystem for Artificial Intelligence, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, has constituted four committees covering all the aspects of AI. These Committees are:

(i)    Committee on platforms and data for AI,

(ii)   Committee on leveraging AI for identifying National Missions in key sectors,

(iii)   Committee on mapping technological capabilities, key policy enablers, skilling, re-skilling and R&D

(iv)    Committee on cybersecurity, safety, legal and ethical issues.

This information was given by the Minister of State of Commerce and Industry, C. R. Chaudhary, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.  

National AI strategy to coordinate sectoral AI initiatives and establish committees for data, capability, skills, and governance. A National Artificial Intelligence Mission is to serve as the nodal coordinating mechanism and NITI Aayog has been tasked with formulating a National Strategy Plan for AI in consultation with Ministries, academia and industry, identifying healthcare, agriculture, education, smart cities and smart mobility as priority sectors; MeitY has constituted four committees on platforms and data, sectoral missions, technological capabilities and skilling/R&D, and cybersecurity, safety, legal and ethical issues.