THEBUSINESSBYTES
BUREAU
BHUBANESWAR,
FEBRUARY 6, 2026
In a decisive move to
position itself at the forefront of India’s artificial intelligence revolution,
the Odisha Government has announced plans to establish a Full-stack Sovereign
AI Park, signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Sarvam, a leading Indian
artificial intelligence company. The initiative underscores the State’s
ambition to build a secure, inclusive and Odia-first AI ecosystem aligned with
Vision 2036 and Vision 2047, while transforming Odisha into a net exporter of
compute capacity in the country.
The MoU was signed in
the presence of the President of India, Droupadi Murmu, on the sidelines of the
Black Swan Summit 2026, lending national prominence to Odisha’s long-term AI
roadmap. The signing ceremony was also witnessed by the Governor of Odisha, the
Chief Minister, Ministers for Electronics & IT and Higher Education, senior
state officials, and the leadership team of Sarvam, reflecting strong
institutional backing for the initiative.
The proposed
Sovereign AI Park will be a purpose-built innovation district designed as an
integrated physical campus that brings together advanced compute
infrastructure, research institutions, startups, global enterprises, skilled
talent, and government use cases under one roof. By creating sovereign and
scalable AI infrastructure, the Park aims to make Odisha a producer and
exporter of compute resources to other states, marking a significant milestone
in the State’s digital economy journey.
A key focus of the
Park will be the deployment of population-scale, voice-enabled AI applications
in the Odia language across critical sectors such as education, agriculture,
healthcare, e-governance and public safety. These applications are expected to
strengthen last-mile delivery of government schemes by enabling citizens,
especially in rural, tribal and low-literacy regions, to access information on
entitlements, benefits and grievance redressal through simple, conversational
interfaces.
Sarvam, known for
building foundational AI models and systems tailored for Indian languages and
public-sector use cases, brings deep expertise in speech, language and
large-scale deployments suited to governance contexts. Its indigenous focus and
alignment with public interest objectives make it a strategic partner in
Odisha’s vision to develop AI as a long-term public capability.
With this landmark
MoU, the Government of Odisha has reaffirmed its commitment to an Odia-first,
inclusive and outcome-driven AI strategy, emphasizing transparency, responsible
innovation and durable state capacity. The initiative positions Odisha as a
national benchmark for citizen-centric artificial intelligence, setting a
precedent for how technology can be harnessed to deliver tangible public value
at scale.
