India is making significant strides toward developing its own indigenous Large Language Model (LLM), a move that reflects the country's growing ambition to establish itself as a leader in the global AI landscape. The government has been vocal about its goal of creating an AI model that competes with international players such as ChatGPT and DeepSeek. Earlier this year, Union Minister of Electronics and IT, Ashwini Vaishnaw, set a 10-month timeline for the rollout of a sovereign LLM. Prime Minister Narendra Modi further emphasized the vision during the Paris AI Summit in February, outlining India’s commitment to advancing its AI capabilities. Now, with the government’s backing, India is taking concrete steps to bring this vision to fruition.
Under the IndiaAI Mission, the government has selected Sarvam, an Indian artificial intelligence company, to develop the country’s sovereign LLM. This is a groundbreaking initiative, as Sarvam will be allocated dedicated computing resources to create an entirely homegrown foundational model. According to the official announcement, this LLM will feature advanced reasoning capabilities, focus on voice-centric interactions, and support fluency in multiple Indian languages. The model is also being designed for large-scale deployment across the country, ensuring it can be accessed and used by a diverse population.
The development of this LLM is set to be a game-changer for India’s technological landscape. As per the announcement, the model will be built, deployed, and optimized entirely within India, relying on domestic infrastructure. This approach underscores the government’s aim to foster strategic independence and promote innovation within the country. By relying on a new generation of Indian talent, the initiative seeks to ensure that India remains at the forefront of AI advancements in the long term.
Sarvam, already a recognized name in AI development, is dedicated to building what is referred to as "Sovereign AI" for India. The company has already demonstrated its capability to create foundational models proficient in Indian languages. During the announcement, Ashwini Vaishnaw expressed confidence in Sarvam's ability to produce models that can compete on a global scale, stating, "We are confident that Sarvam’s models will be competitive with global models."
Dr. Pratyush Kumar, Co-founder of Sarvam, voiced his gratitude for the government's support, highlighting that building an AI ecosystem tailored for India has always been central to the company’s mission. He noted that Sarvam’s research, technology, and models are intended to empower innovators and developers to create solutions that are uniquely suited to the country’s needs.
As part of its commitment to the Sovereign LLM, Sarvam is developing three model variants:
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Sarvam-Large: Designed for advanced reasoning and generation tasks.
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Sarvam-Small: Optimized for real-time, interactive applications.
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Sarvam-Edge: Built for compact, on-device tasks that can be deployed in resource-constrained environments.
Dr. Vivek Raghavan, Co-founder of Sarvam, expressed his pride in the responsibility of building India’s sovereign LLM. He stressed that this project is a crucial step in establishing national AI infrastructure and ensuring that AI applications in India are locally developed and secure. He added that the goal is to create multi-modal, multi-scale foundational models that can unlock a wide range of applications across different sectors. For Indian citizens, this means interacting with AI systems that are culturally familiar and designed to understand local languages and contexts. For businesses, it opens up the possibility of leveraging AI without needing to send data outside of India, thus maintaining data sovereignty.
Additionally, Sarvam is collaborating with AI4Bharat, a leading Indian language AI research group at IIT Madras, to enhance the models’ capabilities. This partnership brings together the expertise of two of India's most influential AI research entities to ensure the success of this ambitious project.
The creation of a sovereign LLM is a monumental achievement that not only positions India as a key player in the AI field but also aligns with the country's broader strategy to achieve digital self-reliance and enhance technological sovereignty. By investing in homegrown AI technology, India is paving the way for innovations that are tailored to the needs and languages of its vast population, ensuring that its digital future is built on a foundation of national pride and strategic independence.
