Google Commits $8 Million to Boost India’s Artificial Intelligence Research Ecosystem

On December 16, tech giant Google announced $8 million in financing for four AI centres of excellence in India. The investment will also be used for a number of research partnerships and healthcare-focused AI projects that will boost the nation's AI ecosystem. The grant was revealed during Google's Lab to Impact discussion, which took place in New Delhi as part of the India AI Impact Summit 2026.

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan stated during the event that India views artificial intelligence (AI) as a critical national competence rather than a fad. In order to further foundational research, responsible AI, and applied solutions that serve the public interest, the four AI Centres of Excellence were established as a coordinated national research mission. They also contribute to our broader goal of Viksit Bharat 2047.

Indic Language Technologies Research Hub at IIT Bombay

Additionally, the Union Minister stated that Google intends to provide a $2 million funding grant for the establishment of the Indic Language Technologies Research Hub at IIT Bombay, which would concentrate on developing AI for the linguistic variety of India. Google, the company behind AI models like Gemma and Gemini, has announced $400,000 in funding to encourage partnerships utilising MedGemma to create health-focused models meant to enhance patient outcomes and healthcare delivery.

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and tech firm Ajna Lens will collaborate on this project to create AI models for use cases in dermatology and patient evaluations that are unique to India. According to the corporation, IISc researchers will also concentrate on more general clinical uses. Additionally, it stated that the models' outputs will be made available to the ecosystem and that they will support India's Digital Public Infrastructure.

Google to Provide Funding to Indian Language Startups

Additionally, Google announced that it will give $50,000 to startups Gnani.AI and CoRover.AI, which are leveraging Gemma to develop AI models with a focus on governance and Indic language speech. According to the firm, IIT Bombay will get a separate $50,000 grant to process health governance and policy papers in the Indic language in order to create a new "India-Centric Trait Database" that would include data on diseases, phenotypes, and genetic problems that are pertinent to the Indian people.

According to a statement, it would also provide $4.5 million to Wadhwani AI to boost multilingual AI-powered apps for agriculture and health. Google is making these announcements as part of its strategy to increase its presence in India in the AI space. The business also declared in October 2025 that it will invest $15 billion to construct an AI data facility in Andhra Pradesh.