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Why in News: The Maharashtra Cabinet (under CM Devendra Fadnavis) approved the Artificial Intelligence Policy 2026 in late April–May 2026, with sustained media coverage through May 22–24. The policy envisages ₹10,000 crore investment and 1.5 lakh jobs by 2031. Maharashtra becomes India’s first state to set up a separate Ethical AI framework.

Policy Pillars

Pillar Detail
6 AI Centres of Excellence (CoE) Sector-specific — healthcare, fintech, agritech, manufacturing, smart cities, education
5 AI Innovation Cities Distributed regional hubs
AI Startup Venture Fund ₹500 crore (50:50 state-private)
MCAT Maharashtra Centre for Advanced AI Training — target 2 lakh trainees
MSME AI subsidy 20% AI-implementation subsidy for 5,000 MSMEs
National Centre for Ethical and Inclusive AI Development First-of-its-kind state-level institution

Policy targets

  • Investment: ₹10,000 crore by 2031
  • Jobs: 1.5 lakh by 2031
  • Trainees through MCAT: 2 lakh

Comparable State AI Policies

State Policy
Tamil Nadu Safe and Ethical AI Policy (2020); revised 2024
Telangana T-Hub-led generative AI initiatives
Karnataka Karnataka AI Policy (2022)
Maharashtra Most comprehensive Ethical AI focus (2026)

IndiaAI Mission — the National Framework

Parameter Detail
Approved by Union Cabinet March 7, 2024
Outlay ₹10,371.92 crore over 5 years (2024–2029)
Compute target 10,000+ GPUs, scalable to 25,000

Components

  1. IndiaAI Compute Capacity (GPU stack)
  2. IndiaAI Innovation Centre
  3. IndiaAI Datasets Platform
  4. IndiaAI Application Development Initiative
  5. IndiaAI FutureSkills
  6. IndiaAI Startup Financing
  7. Safe and Trusted AI

Bhashini — National Language Translation Mission

  • Launched July 2022 under MeitY.
  • Provides Indian-language AI translation, transcription, and text-to-speech.
  • Part of the Digital India BHASHINI scheme.

DPDP Act 2023 and the AI Stack

Parameter Detail
Assent August 11, 2023
Rules Notified in draft January 2025; final notification pending
Significant Data Fiduciary (SDF) Designation under the Act
Data Protection Board of India (DPB) Adjudicatory body

Pending — Digital India Act

  • Under drafting since 2023.
  • Will replace the IT Act, 2000.
  • Expected to address AI, deepfakes, intermediary liability, online gaming.

Ethical AI Principles (Maharashtra framework)

Principle Meaning
Fairness Non-discrimination across caste, gender, region
Transparency Explainability (XAI)
Privacy Data minimisation
Accountability Human-in-the-loop
Safety Robustness, adversarial testing

International AI Governance Landscape

Jurisdiction Instrument
EU AI Act, 2024 — high-risk AI heavily regulated; employment AI = high-risk
US AI Bill of Rights blueprint; Executive Order, October 2023
China Algorithmic Regulations (2022); Generative AI Measures (2023)
UK Bletchley Park AI Safety Summit (November 2023); Seoul Summit follow-up
G7 Hiroshima AI Process (2023)
GPAI Global Partnership on AI — India joined 2020, chaired 2024
UN AI Advisory Body (2024)

Risk of Regulatory Fragmentation

  • State policies (Maharashtra, TN, Karnataka) vs central framework.
  • Need for a Centre–State AI Council under NITI Aayog.
  • Harmonised audit and compliance standards.

Way Forward

  1. Sovereign LLM push under the IndiaAI compute stack.
  2. AIRAWAT — AI Research, Analytics and Knowledge Assimilation platform — by IIT Madras and partners.
  3. Sector-specific AI sandboxes — RBI for fintech, IRDAI for insurance.
  4. AI workforce reskilling at scale.
  5. Final notification of DPDP Rules and roll-out of the Digital India Act.

UPSC Relevance

  • GS Paper 3 — Science & Technology, IT/AI, indigenous innovation.
  • GS Paper 2 — Governance, federalism, Centre-state coordination on emerging tech.
  • Essay — “Ethical AI: between innovation and inclusion.”

Facts Corner

  • Maharashtra AI Policy 2026 — approved late April–May 2026 by Maharashtra Cabinet
  • Investment target: ₹10,000 crore by 2031
  • Jobs target: 1.5 lakh by 2031
  • 6 AI Centres of Excellence + 5 AI Innovation Cities
  • AI Startup Venture Fund: ₹500 crore (50:50 state-private)
  • MCAT — Maharashtra Centre for Advanced AI Training (target 2 lakh trainees)
  • First state with a separate Ethical AI framework
  • IndiaAI Mission — approved March 7, 2024; outlay ₹10,371.92 crore (5 years)
  • Bhashini — launched July 2022 under MeitY
  • DPDP Act — 2023 (assent August 11, 2023)
  • EU AI Act — 2024
  • GPAI — India joined 2020, chaired 2024
  • Maharashtra CM: Devendra Fadnavis

Sources: PIB, Maharashtra Government, MeitY

Source: Maharashtra AI Policy 2026: India's First Ethical AI Framework — Ujiyari.com | Free UPSC & State PCS Current Affairs