Three more AI Labs to come up in M’laya

Union Minister for Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday announced establishment of three more Data and Artificial Intelligence Labs in Meghalaya, marking a significant expansion of the Centre’s push to democratise AI access across India.
The three new AI Labs would be establish in Industrial Training Institute – Shillong, Shillong Polytechnic and Industrial Training Institute – Tura in State’s West Garo Hills district, the Union Minister said, while addressing Regional Artificial Intelligence Summit in Shillong virtually.
One AI Lab is already operational at National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology, Shillong (NIELIT).
Vaishnaw said that the government’s plans is to make Meghalaya a key regional hub for next-generation tech advancement.
“Our focus to make sure that every part of the country gets access to this new technology. The way electricity has become an essential part of our modern day living, in the same way, AI will become an essential part of our modern day living,” the Union Minister said, reaffirming the Centre’s mission of building 570 Data and AI labs across India, with 30 already launched in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities to train youth in data annotation and curation.
Vaishnaw reiterated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given the nation a clear vision of democratising technology, ensuring equitable access to emerging tools and digital infrastructure.
As part of this mission, he said the Union government is organising regional AI Impact Conferences across the country, with the Shillong edition focused on the three pillars of People, Planet and Progress.
Highlighting the scale of national investment, the Minister informed that the government has allocated Rs 10,300 crore over five years to build an inclusive AI ecosystem.
He said a Common Compute Facility has been created to give universal access to high-end AI resources, with over 38,000 GPUs already onboarded at a fraction of global costs.
Moreover, he informed that 3,800 datasets and more than 250 open-source models have been made available to innovators and developers, enabling faster and more affordable AI-based application development.
“India’s goal is to train one million people in AI skills, which will be a defining factor for employability in the future,” he said, adding that
570 Data & AI Labs are being established across the country, where one lab is set up at National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology, Shillong (NIELIT). He added that the government is preparing for the Artificial Intelligence Impact Summit in February 2026, noting, “Our prime minister Narendra Modi ji has given us the vision of democratising the technology… in this conference at Shillong, the focus will be on people, planet, and progress which are the three pillars, or three sutras of the AI Impact Summit.”
Vaishnaw also informed that the government is preparing for the Artificial Intelligence Impact Summit in February 2026.