The Government of India launched the IndiaAI Mission on March 7th, 2024, to bolster India's global leadership in AI and democratise the benefits of AI across all strata of society.

As part of the Safe & Trusted AI pillar of the IndiaAI Mission, the IndiaAI Safety Institute has been established to advance science-based and indigenous research on AI governance, pioneering innovative approaches to AI safety that are relevant to the developing world. Following a Hub and Spoke model, the IndiaAI Safety Institute will engage with all relevant stakeholders, including academia, startups, industry and government ministries/departments, to ensure safety, security and trust in AI. 

The IndiaAI Safety Institute is responsible for ensuring that AI in India is developed, deployed, and adopted in a safe, secure, inclusive, and trustworthy manner, protecting Indian citizens from any harm from the use of AI. This involves the development of technical tools, guidelines, frameworks, commitments, and standards that are contextualised to India’s unique challenges and opportunities with respect to harnessing AI’s transformative potential.

In support of its efforts, IndiaAI Safety Institute is calling for expressions of interest for onboarding partners to expand its capacity, harnessing the broader community's potential, interests, and capabilities

Mandate of IndiaAI Safety Institute

The IndiaAI Safety Institute will:

• Drive R&D on indigenous tools, technologies, benchmarks, measurement systems, and other outputs to mitigate AI risks
• Create India-specific frameworks, guidelines, commitments, protocols, best practices and other support structures for AI governance
• Lead training and awareness programs for key stakeholders
• Strengthen India’s preparedness for next-generation AI systems

IndiaAI Safety Institute Partners

The IndiaAI Safety Institute partners will support its mandate of advancing indigenous research and development for Safe and Trusted AI development, deployment and use in India. Each IndiaAI Safety Institute Partner will establish a dedicated IndiaAI Safety Institute Cell to deliver on the scope of work allocated to the partner institute. The various IndiaAI Safety Institute Cells will function as decentralised capacity of the IndiaAI Safety Institute, executing the assigned technical mandate.

The scope of work of each partner institution is envisaged to be dynamic to respond to the fast-evolving needs and challenges of the AI ecosystem. The IndiaAI Safety Institute will allocate the scope of work amongst the network of selected partner institutions based on the expertise of the partner institution and the proposed areas of support indicated by the institution in their application, among other things.

Kindly refer to the detailed submission guidelines document for more details.

Who Can Participate?

Eligible applicants include:

• Academic institutions (IITs, NITs, IIITs, IISERs, central and state universities, etc.)
• Autonomous bodies
• R&D institutions
• Private universities/colleges with AI programmes
• Legal entities under Indian law including companies, LLPs, trusts, MSMEs, and government agencies
• Startups (as per DPIIT norms)

Applicants must demonstrate technical expertise in AI, have requisite infrastructure, and not be under any form of legal or regulatory ineligibility.

Important Dates

• Date of EoI Publishing: 9th May 2025
• Last Date of Submission: 9th June 2025, 11:59 PM (IST)

Submission Guidelines

• Only one proposal per organisation will be accepted. Joint applications with clear role demarcation are encouraged.
• Applications must be submitted via the official webform by 11:59 PM IST on the 9th of June 2025. Incomplete or late submissions will be rejected.
• Applicants should read and adhere to the Terms and Conditions governing the Grant-in-Aid.

IndiaAI may contact applicants if there are further questions regarding the completed EoI webforms. 

Link: Read the detailed Submission Guidelines Document here.

Link for the Pro-forma: In the application form, kindly upload the proposal in the format provided here.

Contact: For any questions, reach out at: fellow1.gpai-india@meity.gov.in

Join the IndiaAI Safety Institute in advancing innovative, multidisciplinary approaches to AI governance and safety!