India’s traditional knowledge being copied by others: PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday (September 12, 2025) batted for the digitisation of India’s ancient manuscripts and creation of a database to share the knowledge in them.

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Mr. Modi, who was addressing an International Conference ‘Reclaiming India’s Knowledge Legacy through Manuscript Heritage’ as part of the launch of the Gyan Bharatam Mission, said digitisation would also help in curbing “intellectual piracy”, as the information sourced from the country’s traditional knowledge system had been copied and patented many a time by others.

He said the exercise would be an extension of the country’s resolve to forge ahead with the concept of “swadeshi” (made in India) and “atmanirbhar (self-reliant) Bharat”.

Over 10 lakh digitised

The Prime Minister said India has the world’s largest collection of about one crore manuscripts of which over 10 lakh had been digitised so far. He commended private organisations for working with the government to achieve this goal.

India is now proudly presenting before the world its heritage of ancient knowledge preserved in its manuscripts for centuries, he said, adding that India was also working with other countries such as Thailand, Vietnam and Mongolia, with whom it has enjoyed cultural ties and which are home to such manuscripts.

“Throughout history, crores of manuscripts were destroyed, but the ones that remain show how devoted our ancestors were to knowledge, science, and learning,” Mr. Modi said.

“India’s manuscripts contain footprints of the development journey of the entire humanity.” He said that India was a living stream with its cultural identity, consciousness and soul, and its history is not merely about the rise and fall of dynasties.

Portal launched

The Prime Minister also launched the ‘Gyan Bharatam’ portal, a dedicated digital repository platform that seeks to accelerate digitisation and preservation of ancient Indian manuscripts, and enhance the dissemination of traditional knowledge embedded in them.

The ‘Gyan Bharatam’ Mission was announced first by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the budget speech and then by Mr. Modi as part of his Independence Day speech. 

Over 1,100 participants from across the country are attending the conference. The participants include more than 95 academics, 22 government and private administrators, 179 professionals, 112 research scholars, 230 students, and over 400 individuals from various other fields.

Eight groups have been set up under different verticals, including critical areas such as manuscript conservation, digitisation technologies, metadata standards, legal frameworks, cultural diplomacy, and decipherment of ancient scripts.