Dehradun’s Big Leap—₹10 Crore AI Centre Aims to Blend Tech with Trust

• Dr. Jitendra Singh Inaugurates AI Centre at Dehradun University, Calls for Integrity in Technology Use
• New AI Centre to Train Future Innovators and Startups, Aligns with PM Modi’s Digital India and Skill India initiatives

Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh inaugurated the Centre of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence, Skill Development, and Innovation at Graphic Era University in Dehradun—a landmark moment for Uttarakhand and India’s tech ecosystem.

Key Highlights:

• First-of-its-kind in Uttarakhand: Spanning 1.5 lakh sq. ft., the centre includes:
  • Apple iOS Development Centre (in collaboration with Apple and Infosys)
  • NVIDIA-powered AI and HPC hub featuring DGX B200 system with 8 GPUs and 1.74 TB GPU memory
• Investment: ₹10+ crore to support research in healthcare, agriculture, smart cities, and more
• Academic Prestige: India’s first Generative AI Ready Campus powered by AWS, ranked 48th in NIRF 2025, accredited A+ by NAAC

Ethical Tech Vision:

Dr. Singh emphasized: AI can create miracles if used judiciously, but without integrity it can also be misused, referencing deepfakes and misinformation.

He advocated a hybrid model—where AI complements human judgment, not replaces it.

Real-World Impact:

AI-enabled telemedicine vans are serving rural India, showcasing how hybrid AI-human models can deliver healthcare to underserved regions.

Strategic Outlook:

India, once a late adopter of technologies, is now leading in space exploration and quantum research.

Dr. Singh stressed the importance of linking academic research with industry and startups to sustain this momentum.

10 Leading AI Innovation and Research Centres in India

India's growth in AI innovation and research centers is not only driving technological advancements but also creating job opportunities and fostering innovation across various sectors.

For an uninitiated, AI innovation and delivery centers are specialized facilities that focus on developing and deploying artificial intelligence technologies. These centers often house advanced computing infrastructure, research labs, and development teams working on cutting-edge AI projects. These centers play a crucial role in advancing AI technologies and bringing innovative solutions to market.

Since start of this decade, India is rapidly emerging as a global center for AI innovation and data center growth. The country's data center industry is expected to grow by 66% by 2026, with significant investments from global tech giants like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon.

India is home to a significant number of Al innovation and research centers, spread across various cities. While the exact number may vary, there are at least 25 Technology Innovation Hubs established under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS). Additionally, there are several Al research labs and Centers of Excellence (CoEs) focused on healthcare, agriculture, and sustainable cities.

Here are some of the leading AI innovation and delivery centers in India:

1. Robert Bosch Centre for Data Science and AI at IIT Madras:

Focuses on leveraging data science and AI for impactful decisions across various domains.

Established in 2017, RBCDSAI aims to leverage data science to provide actionable, reliable, and impactful insights across various domains such as engineering, finance, and healthcare. The center focuses on areas like safety and stability preserving reinforcement learning, network representation learning, and learning with limited and partial data.

2. NV AI Centre at IIT Hyderabad:

Established, in 2020, in collaboration with NVIDIA, this center accelerates AI research and commercial applications. This center aims to accelerate research on artificial intelligence and its commercial adoption.

The center is equipped with NVIDIA DGX-1TM and DGX-2TM systems, providing powerful computing resources for AI research. The center collaborates with industry partners to drive innovation and apply AI solutions to real-world challenges.

3. Intel AI Research Centre at IIT Hyderabad (INAI) :

A collaboration between Intel India and IIT Hyderabad to apply AI to solve challenges in healthcare and smart mobility. Launched in October 2020, INAI aims to drive innovation and entrepreneurship in AI, focusing on high-impact research for social sector development.

The center provides national scale computing infrastructure, tools, and frameworks to facilitate advanced AI solution development. It aims to develop human capacity in advanced AI technologies by attracting talented researchers from around the world.

4. AI Innovation Hub at Accenture:

The AI Innovation Hub at Accenture India is a key part of Accenture's global network of innovation hubs. Located in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, these hubs are designed to help clients co-innovate and co-create solutions using advanced technologies like AI, automation, blockchain, and more.

These AI innovation hubs house state-of-the-art labs and studios where clients can experience real innovation in action. Clients can work alongside Accenture's experts to rapidly prototype and scale disruptive products and services.

The Bengaluru hub includes a generative AI studio that focuses on optimizing business processes and enabling enterprise reinvention. The hubs are part of Accenture's extensive global network, connecting clients with innovation centers in cities like Toronto, Tokyo, and New York.

5. AI Kriya at IIT Hyderabad:

The AI Kriya at IIT Hyderabad is a dedicated center for research and innovation in artificial intelligence, established with the support of JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) and Honeywell. The center aims to serve the computing and resource needs of researchers working on AI projects at IIT Hyderabad.

6. Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence (CoEAI) at IIT Kharagpur:

Leverages decades of research in AI for fundamental and applied AI projects. Established in April 2018, CoEAI focuses on fundamental and applied AI research, leveraging over three decades of IIT Kharagpur's contributions to AI.

The center also supports entrepreneurship in AI, helping to build a vibrant community of Innovators.

7. Infosys Centre for Artificial Intelligence at IIIT Delhi:

The Infosys Centre for Artificial Intelligence (CAI) at the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Delhi was established in 2016 with support from Infosys Limited. The center focuses on research and development in various AI fields, including autonomous vehicles, AI in healthcare, AI in robotics, AI in mobility, and satellite navigation.

The Centre conducts research on real-life AI problems and aims to expand the horizons of science for the benefit of humanity. The center has produced several products and publications, contributing to global AI advancements.

SICKLE, a multi-sensor satellite imagery dataset annotated with key cropping parameters, is one of the notably projects under the aegis of Infosys Centre for Artificial Intelligence at IIIT Delhi.

8. DAIR at IIT Delhi:

A research center dedicated to AI and machine learning research.

The Data Analytics and Intelligence Research (DAIR) Group at IIT Delhi is a research group within the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. DAIR is dedicated to advancing the field of data analytics and intelligence through rigorous research and collaboration.

The group focuses on various aspects of data analytics and artificial intelligence, including machine learning, natural language processing, and information extraction.

The group has several repositories on GitHub, where they share their research code and projects. DAIR hosts a weekly seminar series where members and interested participants can discuss ongoing research and developments in the field.

9. CFILT Lab at IIT Bombay:

Focuses on computational and financial engineering, and AI research.

The Centre for Indian Language Technology (CFILT) at IIT Bombay is a leading research center in the field of Natural Language Processing (NLP). Established with a grant from the Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, Government of India, CFILT focuses on developing technologies for Indian languages.

CFILT works on lexical resources, lexical and structural disambiguation, shallow parsing, cross-lingual information retrieval, machine translation, text entailment, and sentiment analysis

The center has developed several notable projects, including the Hindi WordNet, Marathi WordNet, and Sanskrit WordNet.

CFILT also work on projects like Shabdamitra for Hindi and Marathi language learning.

10. CAIR at DRDO, Ministry of Defence, Government of India:

A center for AI research aimed at defense applications.

The Centre for Artificial Intelligence & Robotics (CAIR) at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Ministry of Defence, Government of India, is a premier laboratory involved in research and development in the areas of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotics, Command and Control, and Information and Communication Security.

CAIR aims to add value to information by delivering dependable information systems to the Defence services for battle space dominance.

The center focuses on developing technologies that ensure relevance, security, safety, resiliencv. survivability, and and trustworthiness for mission-critical applications.

CAIR develops mission-critical products for battlefield secure communication and information management systems.

These centers are at the forefront of AI research and innovation in India, contributing to advancements in various fields.

Notably, Global Capability Centers (GCCs) have evolved from cost-efficient offshore service centers to critical innovation hubs. These GCCs are leading advancements in AI, cloud computing, and data science.

Besides, India's data center industry is expected to grow by 66% by 2026, with significant investments from global tech giants like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon. Cities like Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai, and Hyderabad are becoming key data center hubs.

Indian government-led Vision 2047 aims to position the country as a leader in AI and data center infrastructure. The country ranks fourth globally in AI research output, and its data center market is projected to reach $11.85 billion by 2029.

India's growth in AI innovation and delivery centers is not only driving technological advancements but also creating job opportunities and fostering innovation across various sectors.

Salesforce to Build Its 1st AI Center Building worth $4 Billion in London

Salesforce has recently announced that it has chosen London as the location for its first AI Center, which is part of a significant $4 billion investment in the UK's AI economy. The AI Center will be situated in London's Blue Fin building and aims to foster collaboration among industry experts, partners, and customers to advance AI innovation.

This move also includes a commitment to upskilling opportunities, with Salesforce Ventures investing over $200 million in UK companies like ElevenLabs, the text-to-speech and AI voice generator, and AutoGenAI, the world’s leading AI bid writing engine.

The opening of this AI Center is a strong indication of Salesforce's confidence in the UK as a global technology hub and its potential for major growth in the AI sector. The UK AI market is expected to reach over $1 trillion by 2035, and Salesforce's investment is poised to play a significant role in realizing this opportunity.

The center is set to officially open on June 18, 2024, and will support the creation of 500,000 AI-related jobs in the UK.

This strategic decision aligns with Salesforce's vision of AI as a transformative technology and their dedication to ensuring it serves as a force for good. It's a clear message to customers and partners that Salesforce is deeply committed to working closely together to harness the benefits of AI.

In addition, Salesforce continues to provide further upskilling opportunities through Trailhead, the company’s free online learning platform. To date, Trailhead has helped more than 7 million people build their skills and prepare for the future of work with AI. In the UK alone, users have earned 2.9 million badges on Trailhead from having completed learning modules and projects.

"AI has the potential to drive major growth for UK businesses – with the UK AI market predicted to reach over $1 trillion by 2035", said Zahra Bahrololoumi, CEO, Salesforce UKI.

The UK's AI sector is attracting significant investment from a variety of companies. Google, Amazon, and Microsoft are continually investing in AI technologies and have a strong presence in the UK's AI market. BrainPool AI, a company that provides AI consultancy and helps clients build custom AI solutions. Graphcore has secured a substantial amount of investment and is known for developing software to power driverless vehicles.

Moreover, SFC Capital known for leading in terms of UK equity deals in AI, participating in numerous deals since 2013. Mercia Asset Management Invests outside London, often partnering with universities to support AI spinous.

These companies, among others, are contributing to the UK's position as a hub for AI innovation and development. The sector is seeing growth across various industries, including cybersecurity, healthcare automation, chatbots, and self-driving cars, reflecting the diverse applications of AI technology.

TCS To Set Up First-of-its-Kind Human-Centric AI CoE in France

• Based at the new TCS PacePort™ in Paris, the center will focus on the brain-machine interface, developing empathy in machines and unleashing the creativity of AI
• Joins a growing AI ecosystem as part of France’s 2030 National Strategy for AI, with TCS creating new jobs and internships, aiding the country’s goal to double its AI-skilled workforce in the next five years
• The center will take an industry-first approach for the BFS, manufacturing, energy and consumer industries to deepen the adoption of AI in the French economy

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has announced the creation of a Global Artificial Intelligence (AI) Center of Excellence in Paris, during the Choose France Summit, hosted by President Emmanuel Macron. The summit was attended by 300 global CEOs, including Mr. N. Chandrasekaran, the Chairman of Tata Sons.

The new AI center will be based in the upcoming TCS PacePort™ in the La Défense area of Paris, which will be inaugurated in June 2024, becoming the 7th such facility in TCS’ global Pace network, following Amsterdam, London, New York, Pittsburgh, Toronto, and Tokyo. The TCS AI Center of Excellence in Paris will leverage TCS’ global ecosystem of startups, academia, and research organizations to bring the best of global capabilities to French companies. The new center will join France’s growing AI ecosystem and tap into its deep talent base in design and engineering, to build advanced technologies in the space of human-centric AI. It will focus on pushing the boundaries of how AI can be designed and evolved to address business efficiencies and societal priorities. The impact areas shall include some of the key priorities listed in France’s National Strategy for AI, as part of the France 2030 plan.

Valerie Pecresse, President of the Regional Council of the Ile-de-France region, said, “Paris region is fast developing into one of the global epicenters for Artificial Intelligence. We are delighted to see this new investment by TCS, which will boost the AI ecosystem we are looking to develop and provide new opportunities to our students and professionals. I look forward to inaugurating this center in June.”

The center will, initially, focus on areas such as brain-computer interface, building empathy in machines, and unleashing the power of AI in arts and culture. The leading position that Paris has as a global hub of culture, arts and design will provide added impetus to this initiative.

Earlier in March this year, TCS had announced the opening of its new PacePort™ in London, a dedicated 9,000 Sq. Ft. innovation hub that aims to drive and accelerate innovation-led growth in the United Kingdom while helping businesses bring innovation to life.

Dr. Harrick Vin, Chief Technology Officer, TCS, said, “The need of the hour is to boost AI skills present in the country, accelerate the adoption of AI in the French economy, and develop global capabilities here that will benefit the rest of the world. Our new AI center in Paris will focus on many of these areas, including the development of talent and leveraging the world-renowned culture that France has for design – reflected in its fashion, luxury sector and museums. We will seek to deepen our partnerships with universities, startups, and research centers in the country, as we operationalize this center in the coming weeks.”

“We are very proud of the growth of our operations in France and the nature of the complex and high-value digital services we provide for our clients. Our new investments in the TCS PacePort™ in Paris and the TCS AI Center of Excellence are demonstrations of our ongoing commitment to building capabilities in the most advanced technologies and bringing them to bear for our clients in the country and across the world. The new center will focus on boosting human-centered AI capabilities for the banking & financial services, manufacturing, and consumer sectors, to start with. We will hire new talent and partner with universities to offer internships and projects, to support the National AI Mission,” said Rammohan Gourneni, Country Head, TCS France.

TCS has continuously ramped up its investments in France, since commencing operations in 1992. With the acquisition of TKS- Teknosoft in 2006, and of Alti in 2013, TCS significantly boosted its presence in the region. It now has 1,600 employees in the country, working for 80 of France’s leading businesses. TCS has established three delivery centers in Lille, Poitiers, and Paris and will soon set up a new facility in Toulouse. It recently modernized its corporate headquarters in La Défense, invested in creating a new PacePort™ and has recruited 500+ people over the past three years.