Visakhapatnam, October 11, 2025: TechBharat Research Foundation, in collaboration with Google Cloud India, has launched India’s first Artificial Intelligence (AI) Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Public Good in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The initiative marks a major step toward advancing the IndiaAI Mission and strengthening the country’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI).
Located in Visakhapatnam, an emerging hub for governance and education, the Centre aims to design and deploy AI solutions addressing real-world public challenges in areas such as governance, citizen services, disaster response, education, land management, and security. The initiative aligns with India’s vision of fostering responsible and inclusive AI adoption for societal impact.
At the heart of the initiative is the TechBharat AI Fellowship, a national program designed to identify, train, and deploy India’s emerging AI talent to solve complex public sector challenges. The full-time fellowship will be conducted three times a year, featuring a 120-day on-site program in Visakhapatnam.
Each cohort will include over 80 fellows and 100 interns annually, who will work with government departments to build deployable AI prototypes. Participants will also take part in national AI Hackathons for Public Good starting later this year. Fellows will receive stipends, living arrangements, and access to AI curricula, deployment resources, and technical training jointly developed by TechBharat and Google Cloud.
Speaking about the collaboration, Sridhar Gadhi, Founder, TechBharat Research Foundation, said, “This collaboration signifies more than a partnership; it underscores India's readiness to spearhead global initiatives in ethical, public-impact AI. Google Cloud and Tech Bharat will jointly develop advanced AI services, leveraging Google Cloud's expertise in cloud infrastructure, and extensive developer training.”
Google Cloud’s involvement will include access to its infrastructure and resources under the Google for Startups Cloud Program. It will also provide mentorship, technical guidance, and business support from Google’s teams and domain experts to help develop enterprise-grade AI solutions for the public sector.
Ashish Wattal, Director, Public Sector, Google Cloud India, said, “With TechBharat, we’re bringing our best technologies and talent to help solve real-world public sector challenges and opportunities for innovation. Google Cloud in collaboration with TechBharat will help shape scalable solutions built in India to create a powerful ecosystem that combines our cloud capabilities to deliver AI for Public Good at national scale.”
The first fellowship cohort will begin in October 2025, with project challenges drawn from key government departments including Disaster Management, Industries & Commerce, Education, Citizen Services, and Real-Time Governance. Future cohorts will focus on scaling responsible AI adoption across public systems in India and contributing to global AI learning frameworks.
TechBharat Research Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to leveraging AI for equity, efficiency, and empowerment. Through this collaboration, both organisations aim to accelerate India’s leadership in AI for social good, making technology accessible and impactful across underserved communities.
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