Reliance Jio to partner with IIT-B for Bharat GPT

Reliance Jio has partnered with IIT Bombay to develop an indigenous GPT platform called Bharat GPT.

Mumbai: Reliance Jio is set to partner with IIT Bombay to carry out the central government’s initiative of establishing an indigenous GPT platform called Bharat GPT. Professor Ganesh Ramakrishnan from IIT’s department of computer science and engineering, is exploring GPT and Large Language Model (LLM) solutions for this. Akash Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Jio unveiled this collaboration at IIT-B’s Techfest.

Mumbai, India - December,27, 2023: Aakash Ambani chairman Reliance Jio,(son of businessman Mukesh Ambani's) is seen attending For interview a three-day Tech-fest festival of Technology at Convocation hall Mumbai IIT ,in Mumbai, in Mumbai, India, on, Wednesday, December ,27, 2023. ( Praful Gangurde / HT Photo )

Techfest, an annual science and technology festival at IIT-B, kicked off on Wednesday. In a conversation with Shraddha Sharma, Ambani talked about his college days as well as his business aspirations. While talking about a decade-old association with the IIT-B Techfest, Ambani said, “In 2014 we launched 4G on the IIT-B campus during Techfest. Since then, our association with it has continued at various levels.” Ambani then highlighted his company’s partnering with the new age project in IIT-B. “We will be associating with IIT-B for an artificial intelligence project, Bharat GPT,” he said.

GPT and LLM-based solutions are for key business verticals like telecom and retail. A year ago, the Bharat GPT consortium was established with the aim of delivering India-centric multimodal and multi-lingual models in a unique Public-Private Partnership initiative led by IIT Bombay. The consortium comprises other academic institutes such as IIT Madras, IIT Mandi, IIIT Hyderabad, IIT Kanpur and IIM Indore.

The Bharat GPT consortium plans to release a series of multi-lingual and multi-modal foundational models along with the applications as well as their implementation recipes, which will enable grassroots innovations delivering India-centric solutions.

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‘India will soon be biggest exporter in defence products’

In a lecture, former DRDO chief Sathish Reddy reflected on India’s remarkable evolution in defence technology since its independence. He emphasised that the nation was initially dependent on external sources for defence technology, but a significant shift occurred in the late 1970s and early ’80s with the initiation of indigenous projects such as Satellite Launch Vehicle (SLV) and Pokhran.

“Today, India stands as a self-reliant force in defence technology, achieving maturity in numerous domains and marking the beginning of defence equipment exports, totalling a staggering ₹16,000 crore,” said Reddy. He also pointed out a significant shift in the manufacturing of defence products in the last five or six years. “Currently, close to 17,000 industries in Tier 1, 2 and 3 cities contribute to the defence sector,” he said. “Moreover, the paradigm shift is evident in the influx of start-ups—approximately 2,000 to 4,000 start-ups are actively engaged in defence-related projects.”