New Delhi, February 12 Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Thursday that India's Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be inclusive by design, interoperable by architecture, and sovereign by capability.
The minister made the remarks at the inaugural session of the Bharat Bodhan AI Conclave 2026 here. The two-day conclave will bring together senior policymakers from the Centre and the states, researchers, academic institutions, and industry leaders to deliberate on AI's strategic role in transforming India's education ecosystem, with a focus on innovation, scalable adoption, and national capacity building.
"India's AI will be inclusive by design, interoperable by architecture, and sovereign by capability. We need to integrate AI into education to empower our students and support our teachers.
"I urge all stakeholders to build scalable, responsible, ethical, inclusive, and India-centric sovereign AI models to transform our education and achieve the goal of Viksit Bharat," Pradhan said.
"There are 30 crore students in Indian campuses. We have decided that, starting from Class 3 and extending to advanced research, we will impart age-appropriate knowledge about AI," he said.
The Bharat Bodhan AI Conclave 2026 is envisioned as a national platform for landscape discovery, strategic alignment, and partnership building in AI-enabled education.
"Its primary purpose is to mark the beginning of the development of the Bharat EduAI Stack, an open and interoperable architecture to build, integrate, and scale AI-powered learning solutions across India, besides enabling landscape discovery and ecosystem mapping to identify gaps and opportunities," he said.
The minister noted that AI is a horizontal issue and not just a subject of technology.
"I believe that all students will require AI. If we create a model that combines machines and emotions and build an architecture, then we can be a force to be reckoned with," he said.
The conclave will focus on solutions across four priority verticals: AI for School Education, AI for Higher Education, AI for Skilling and Workforce Readiness, and AI Research and Deep Technology.
An exhibition showcasing AI-driven innovations in school education, higher education, and skilling was also inaugurated, providing a platform for interaction between policymakers and innovators.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between IIT Bombay and Columbia University to establish a Centre of AI for manufacturing at IIT Bombay, besides the launch of three new courses on AI by IIM Lucknow, institutional collaborations involving IIM Jammu and AIT Bangkok, and an IIM Ranchi Initiative called "Teaching with AI".
The Bharat Bodhan AI Conclave precedes the larger India AI Summit, scheduled to be held in the national capital from February 16 to 20. The summit is expected to see participation from global tech leaders, including NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, and Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon.
