Kochi: The Kerala government will announce a policy on artificial intelligence (AI) within this financial year, state minister for industry, law and economics P Rajeev said in Kochi on Friday.
He made the momentous announcement in a declaration issued at the conclusion of the two-day international GenAI conference.
The dedicated AI policy, aligned with ESG (environmental sustainability, social responsibility and governance practices) objectives, will be launched in line with current industrial policy, which has identified AI as a priority area.
The manifesto states that the policy will consist of supportive measures to strengthen existing infrastructure and build a more futuristic AI ecosystem.
As per the manifesto, AI cluster-based industrial parks will be set up in the state on public-private participation basis in association with various technology and knowledge partners.
“This will facilitate the creation of common infrastructure, including graphics processing centers, global capability centers, and other ecosystem support infrastructure,” the document states.
In collaboration with anchor investors, plug and play and incubation facilities will be set up in the state.
Financial support for start-ups and small businesses
As per the new AI policy, the government will provide financial assistance, including equity capital, to startups in the AI sector. AI companies with a minimum investment of Rs 100 crore will be provided preferential equity capital investment of up to Rs 50 crore by the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC).
A scale-up loan assistance of Rs 10 lakh crore will be provided along with other incentives as notified in the Industrial Policy. Financial incentives will also be provided to existing MSMEs adopting AI technology or AI tools.
The conclave manifesto said that to ensure broader stakeholder partnership, a focus group should be constituted with representatives from existing AI organisations, research institutes, associations and government agencies.
Adoption of AI in various core sectors such as marine genome sequencing, tourism, healthcare and IT/ITeS will also be given focus with the support of the technology group.
The government will encourage the use of AI in various programmes and initiatives across ministries and agencies.
AI tools will be incorporated into online mechanisms for processing applications, resolving investor queries, decision-making and licensing support by government agencies. Provision will be made to provide skill training in AI as per industry requirements in collaboration with ASAP, DUK, KTU, CUSAT etc.
A special session will be held at the Global Investor Conference scheduled to be held in January 2025 to promote investment from AI companies. A campaign will be launched to promote investment in the state by AI companies.
The state government has also decided to strengthen collaboration with technology giant IBM, which played a key role in organising the conference.
Focus on knowledge-based industries
Earlier, Minister Rajeev addressed a session on 'Government initiatives for promoting investment' and said the government was laying emphasis on knowledge-based industries to strengthen the ecosystem by attracting investments and creating employment opportunities for the youth.
“The Industrial Policy 2023 has been adopted recognising the state's strengths and limitations. Our greatest strength is our IT-skilled manpower and the Industrial Policy has identified 22 priority sectors including AI, blockchain, machine learning, big data analytics, robotics, tourism and logistics,” Rajeev pointed out.
He said the state government had issued 22 permits for setting up private industrial parks within eight months, which he termed as a major achievement.
Rajeev highlighted the government's innovative initiatives to strengthen the startup ecosystem, including industrial parks on university campuses and provision of preferential points to students.
Making a detailed presentation on the AI ecosystem in Kerala, Principal Secretary, Industries, Mohammed Hanish APM said the department is promoting AI-enabled solutions in key sectors besides setting up AI enablement centres to support MSMEs.
In his presentation, Secretary, Electronics and IT, Dr. Ratan U Kelkar said that as per the strategy going forward, Kerala plans to account for 10 per cent of India's IT and electronics industry in the next five years and that the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can be achieved through digital technologies.
On Bio-IT, he said the Kerala State Genomic Data Centre (KGDC) will be the repository for all the genetic data of Kerala and is expected to be the backbone connecting over 125 life science institutes in the state. Also, an AI-enabled high capacity data centre is being set up at the Kerala Digital University.
