Indian AI startup Sarvam has announced landmark strategic partnerships with the Governments of Odisha and Tamil Nadu, marking a major step in India’s push to build sovereign, population-scale artificial intelligence infrastructure embedded directly into public systems.

The collaborations aim to develop AI as a foundational national infrastructure, moving beyond isolated use cases toward intelligence that functions as a shared backbone across governance, public services, and industry. The initiative focuses on building at-scale compute capacity, sovereign AI models tailored for Indian languages and contexts, and institutional capability to drive adoption across millions of users.

In Odisha, Sarvam will work with the state government to develop a 50MW AI-optimised compute facility, designed to serve as both a state-level AI public utility and a core node in a future nationwide sovereign compute grid. The infrastructure will support Odisha’s key sectors, including mining, heavy industry, and skilling, with applications such as Vision AI for industrial safety and compliance and Odia-to-English voice tools to improve job readiness among youth.

Positioning Odisha as a national compute hub, the facility will also offer production-grade AI capacity to other states and national platforms. The initiative aligns with the state’s vision of transitioning from a “mine-driven economy” to a “mind-driven economy” under the Viksit Bharat 2047 framework.

In Tamil Nadu, Sarvam has partnered with the state government and IIT Madras to establish Digital Sangam, India’s first Sovereign AI Research Park. Anchored by a 20MW AI-optimised data centre, the park will co-locate advanced compute, frontier research, and startup incubation, ensuring sensitive data remains within national boundaries while reflecting Tamil language and cultural priorities.

The initiative will power population-scale, voice-enabled AI applications, including a unified citizen helpline and the Vivasāya Nanban AI assistant, offering 24×7 digital advisory services to nearly 79 lakh farm households.

Sarvam said these early initiatives represent foundational components of a national AI compute grid, designed to ensure intelligence compounds within India and support long-term digital self-reliance.