Chhattisgarh cabinet approves ₹500 crore AI Mission to support over 300 startups

The Story in Brief

The Chhattisgarh Cabinet on Wednesday approved ₹500 crore for an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Mission, the state’s largest investment in AI, to be spent over five years to promote digital governance, skill development and innovation. The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai at the Mahanadi Bhawan.

Under the five-year programme the state will establish 100 AI Data Labs, set up five Centres of Excellence, support more than 300 AI startups, train six lakh students and 1.5 lakh government employees in AI, and develop more than 50 AI-powered government services. The initiative is aligned with the Centre’s IndiaAI Mission and aims to position Chhattisgarh as a future-ready digital state. The cabinet also approved concessional land allotment to Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) for a Heavy Earth Moving Equipment manufacturing plant, approved the first phase of the Works and Account Management Information System in the Public Works Department, and amended the Chief Minister’s Rural Road and Development Scheme, including removing a prior requirement to carry out earthwork through MGNREGA.

The Indian Opinion

The announcement sets clear numerical targets and a visible focus on skills, startups and digital services, which can aid monitoring. At the same time the report is short on implementation detail: it lists targets such as 100 data labs, training six lakh students and supporting over 300 startups but does not give a budget breakdown for each item, timelines for delivery, or mechanisms for measuring outcomes. An ordinary reader may welcome the investment but reasonably expect more information on how progress will be tracked and how local impacts – including the concessional land allotment to BEML and changes to rural road rules – will be managed. Where facts are thin, outcomes remain uncertain.

Original article: Chhattisgarh cabinet clears ₹500 crore AI Mission; to support over 300 startups (www.hindustantimes.com)

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