Union govt. should increase funding for R&D, says Minister

The Union government needs to increase its funding on R&D and the R&D needs to be democratised, Minister for Industries T.R.B. Rajaa said here on Wednesday.

Inaugurating the Conclave on Safe and Trusted AI hosted by IIT Madras’ Centre for Responsible AI (CeRAI), Mr. Rajaa said: “We really have to look at AI with an open mind.”

Underlining that a good policy intervention was important, the Minister said Tamil Nadu’s vision was to become the country’s AI hub.

“For us, democratising AI is key,” Mr. Rajaa said, adding that AI needed to become more democratic and every single person should be able to access AI.

IIT-Madras Director V. Kamakoti said AI had reached a stage where it was becoming increasingly pervasive in everyone’s lives.

Deepak Goel, Group Coordinator, Cyber Laws, MeitY, hoped for more discussions with experts from other countries, including Japan and Brazil.

Mohammed Y. Safirulla, Director, MeitY, said India would host the Impact AI Summit from February 15 to 20, 2026, in New Delhi.

Balaraman Ravindran, Head, Wadhwani School of Data Science and AI, IIT-Madras, said the goal of the two-day conclave was to discuss issues regarding AI solutions, which could be employed in a safe manner, for the Global South.