PM Modi flags AI push for Indian languages as Central Sanskrit University launches B.Tech programme

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday highlighted a new initiative to blend India's linguistic heritage with emerging technologies, announcing that the Central Sanskrit University in Delhi is launching a B.Tech programme in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science.Speaking during the 135th episode of Mann Ki Baat, Modi said the programme represents an important step towards integrating modern technology with India's traditional knowledge systems. According to him, the initiative is expected to help develop AI tools for Indian languages while accelerating the digitisation and preservation of ancient texts and manuscripts."This marks a crucial step towards integrating modern technology with India's traditional knowledge. It will facilitate the development of new AI tools for Indian languages and accelerate the digitisation and preservation of our ancient texts and manuscripts," the Prime Minister said.The announcement comes as India continues to expand its AI ecosystem, with increasing focus on building large language models and AI applications tailored for regional languages. The country's AI ambitions have also received policy backing through initiatives aimed at improving digital public infrastructure and strengthening indigenous AI capabilities.Also read: Why Piyush Goyal says Fitch, Moody's and S&P have been unfair to India?For India's language technology ecosystem, the programme could contribute to creating a larger pool of engineers with expertise in both AI and classical languages. Such capabilities are increasingly relevant as technology companies, startups and public institutions work on multilingual AI models, speech recognition systems and translation tools designed for India's diverse linguistic landscape.The move also sits well with the other efforts to digitally preserve India's cultural and literary heritage. AI-powered optical character recognition, text digitisation and translation technologies are expected to play a growing role in making historical manuscripts and archives more accessible for research and education.During the address, Modi extended his best wishes to the Central Sanskrit University, describing the initiative as an effort to prepare young professionals for the AI era while keeping them connected to India's knowledge traditions.