On 17th October, Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu appealed to people not to create a North-South divide while responding to a post slamming the centre for “excluding Bengaluru” as one of the places to set up the AI Centre Excellence. On 15th October, Union Minister for Education Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated AI Centres of Excellence at three prestigious institutions including IIT-Kanpur, IIT-Ropar, and a joint centre at IIT-Delhi and AIIMS. Bengaluru’s absence raised concerns among some sections about why the government did not choose the IT hub as one of the locations for an AI Centre of Excellence.
Padma Shri awardee and former Infosys Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Mohandas Pai expressed his reservation on social media and questioned Minister Pradhan and Union Minister for Railways, Information & Broadcasting, Electronics & Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnav. He accused the Centre of ignoring the south, especially Bengaluru. “Bengaluru voted for NDA (National Democratic Alliance) but all we get is stepmotherly treatment. Citizens here are very angry and upset at you folks repeatedly ignoring us in the South! Are we children of a lesser God here,” he charged.
Pai added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the PMO (Prime Minister’s Office) should step in and hand over their share to them. “What are our MPs doing? For voting NDA our state govt too is ignoring us. Not investing enough in Bengaluru,” he questioned while tagging BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) and NDA leaders including Union Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Minister Of Heavy Industries and Steel HD Kumaraswamy and National President of BJP Yuva Morcha and Lok Sabha MP from Bengaluru South Tejasvi Surya and Lok Sabha MP from Bangalore Central PC Mohan.
Minister @dpradhanbjp nothing in Bengaluru, the technology capital of India? Why are you and @AshwiniVaishnaw ignoring the South in IT, ignoring Bengaluru? Are we not part of Bharat too? Bengaluru voted for NDA but all we get is step motherly treatment. Citizens here are very… https://t.co/31dQ9V3Ois
— Mohandas Pai (@TVMohandasPai) October 16, 2024
Controversial Congress spokesperson Lavanya Ballal Jain also attacked Tejasvi Surya and the Union Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Shobha Karandlaje for being “incapable of demanding anything from the union government.”
Nothing for Karnataka.
— Lavanya Ballal Jain (@LavanyaBallal) October 16, 2024
The bjp MPs like @Tejasvi_Surya and @ShobhaBJP are incapable of demanding anything from the union government https://t.co/uW72O3Eh83
A Rahul Gandhi supporter alleged that the technologically advanced South has been overlooked. “Is this a way just to push more money of the diligent “taxpayers” into the northern BJP states,” she asked.
So basically…. The South which excels in technology is IGNORED!!!
— Sangeetha (@ssangeetha95) October 17, 2024
Is this a way just to push more money of the deligent "Tax Payers" into the Northern BJP states ??? @ProfCong @pravchak @INCIndia @PriyankKharge @revanth_anumula @Jairam_Ramesh https://t.co/OjTvkfO5o9
Another detractor declared that “the agenda of PM Modi and Union Minister of Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal is out.” He accused that they harbour deep envy for Bengaluru and Karnataka and that the entire south should unify and exit the GST (Goods and Services Tax) system.
The agenda of @narendramodi & @PiyushGoyal is out. They are jealous of Bengaluru & Karnataka to the core. Entire south should come united & come out of #GST. https://t.co/4mt9KIlM87
— CSLakshmeesha (@LakshmeeshaCS) October 16, 2024
“Complete rubbish. Even those IIT’ans have to come to Bengaluru to complete the work they start in those CoEs,” wrote Naresh, CEO of Kensaltensi (technology services company) and added, “Not including Bengaluru (India largest software exporter) is exactly the same as the UN security council not including India (world biggest democracy) as a permanent member,” tweeted Naresh, CEO of Kensaltensi.
Complete rubbish. Even those IIT'ans have to come to #Bengaluru to complete the work they start in those CoE.
— Naresh (@nareshpais) October 16, 2024
Not including Bengaluru(India largest software exporter) is exactly the same as the UN security council not including India(world biggest democracy) as a permanent…
Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu responds to the allegations
Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu, who co-chaired the panel responsible for determining the AI hub locations, took to the microblogging platform to refute the charges and explained that the committee was comprised of many members from the south. He also clarified that the decision-making was independent of government influence and that it was a unanimous decision. He further clarified that while several institutions from south India were shortlisted, the three selected institutions stood out in the end.
“The committee itself had plenty of us from the south (probably the majority). Most of us came from the private sector and the government did not tell us who we should select. We in the committee (again with so many of us from the south and so many from the private sector) made the selection based on a very thorough evaluation of actual projects done,” he highlighted.
I want to add that the consortiums selected include southern institutions. For instance the AI CoE on Health led by the AIIMS consortium includes IISc Bengaluru and IIT Chennai.
— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) October 17, 2024
“The responsibility for this decision on the AI Centres of Excellence should be with us in the committee and personally with me as co-chair,” he asserted and implored people not to bring in North-South politics into this choice regarding the development. He further informed, “IISc Bengaluru, IIT Chennai, NIT Calicut, IIT Hyderabad, and IIT Mumbai all presented very strong proposals but the ones we selected stood out in the end. The committee was unanimous in this decision. We stand by our judgment.”
In another tweet, Vembu added that southern institutions are part of the chosen consortiums. IISc Bengaluru and IIT Chennai, for example, are members of the AI CoE on Health, which is headed by the AIIMS consortium.
I want to add that the consortiums selected include southern institutions. For instance the AI CoE on Health led by the AIIMS consortium includes IISc Bengaluru and IIT Chennai.
— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) October 17, 2024
Meanwhile, Manish Gupta, Director at Google DeepMind who was also part of the selection committee backed Sridhar Vembu and said, “As a member of the committee that made the selections, I fully stand by our collective decisions. We made our decisions based on what we felt was good for India.
I fully endorse @svembu's views on this matter. As a member of the committee that made the selections, I fully stand by our collective decisions. We made our decisions based on what we felt was good for *India*. https://t.co/KOIzg9474E
— Manish Gupta (@ManishGuptaMG1) October 17, 2024
AI Centre Excellence
The Ministry of Education stated that the three AI-CoEs would concentrate on three important industries including sustainable cities, agriculture and healthcare. Each of these sectors will be driven by eminent universities in collaboration with startups and industry players. The initiative, which would cost a total of Rs 990 crore and take five years to accomplish, from FY 2023–24 to FY 2027–28, aims to improve India’s standing in the world of AI-driven research and innovation. The creation of these centres was announced under Paragraph 60 of the Budget Announcement for 2023–24, as part of the goal to “Make AI in India and Make AI work for India.”
The CoE for healthcare will be led by AIIMS and IIT Delhi, the CoE for agriculture by IIT Ropar, and the CoE for sustainable cities by IIT Kanpur. Dharmendra Pradhan spoke at the function and expressed optimism that the three AI-CoEs would become major international hubs for the common good. He voiced that the opening of these centres was a big step toward enhancing India’s standing in the international AI community. Pradhan pointed out that these CoEs will eventually become important components of international public policy and suppliers of solutions to the world given Bharat’s potential and zeal.
He complimented the apex committee, under the direction of Sridhar Vembu, for their painstaking work in putting the AI CoEs into practice at India’s best universities. Pradhan thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his vision of making India a hub for artificial intelligence. He declared these CoEs will significantly strengthen the nation’s startup ecosystem, fostering the emergence of a new generation of wealth and job creators as well as the establishment of new paradigms for the global public good.
Sridhar Vembu said that these projects will holistically benefit villages, cities, and the people of India. He emphasized the importance of nurturing the country’s talent pool to ensure they flourish and serve the nation in the coming decades. The CoEs will create companies, nurture talent, and generate opportunities for India’s talent pool, the Zoho CEO said.
During the event, a short video with the theme “Make AI in India and Make AI work for India,” was also screened. These three AI CoEs will be led by eminent academic institutions in association with business partners and startups to realize the “Viksit Bharat” goal. They will work on cutting-edge applications, scalable solutions, and multidisciplinary research in these fields. The objective of this project is to cultivate top-notch human resources in these vital disciplines and to galvanize an efficient AI ecosystem. An industry-heavy apex committee, co-chaired by Dr Sridhar Vembu, has been established to oversee the initiative’s implementation.
