Tamil Nadu to host India’s first Sovereign AI Park with ₹10,000 crore Sarvam AI project

The Chennai-based facility will anchor India’s push for state-controlled AI infrastructure, local-language models and public-sector AI deployment.

By  Storyboard18| Jan 13, 2026 2:23 PM

The Tamil Nadu government has partnered with Indian artificial intelligence startup Sarvam AI to set up what it calls the country’s first full-stack Sovereign AI Park in Chennai, a move aimed at keeping sensitive data, computing power and AI models within a government-controlled digital ecosystem.

Under a memorandum of understanding signed earlier this month, Sarvam AI will invest ₹10,000 crore to develop the facility, which is expected to generate around 1,000 high-skilled jobs across AI research, data infrastructure, systems engineering and governance technology. The agreement was formalised in the presence of Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, Industries Minister T.R.B. Rajaa and senior officials.

The project will be developed as a purpose-built district that brings together large-scale computing infrastructure, secure data frameworks, model training labs and startup incubation spaces. A key element of the initiative is the creation of an Institute for AI in Governance, which will focus on building artificial intelligence tools for public administration while ensuring compliance with data protection, security and ethical standards.

According to the state government, the park will function as a fully integrated AI ecosystem in which data storage, model development and deployment all take place within Tamil Nadu’s jurisdiction. This design is intended to support applications across sectors such as education, healthcare, agriculture and citizen services, reducing reliance on overseas cloud and AI platforms.

Sarvam AI, which is leading the technology side of the project, works on building foundational AI models and platforms tailored for Indian languages and real-world use cases. Its products include multilingual large language models, speech and voice systems, and application programming interfaces for translation, transcription and reasoning.

The startup has also been selected under the Centre’s IndiaAI Mission to build India’s first sovereign large language model, giving it access to high-performance computing resources to train large-scale AI systems domestically. The company plans to roll out its first set of sovereign AI models by mid-February, trained and deployed within India’s regulatory and data governance framework.

Founded in 2023 by Pratyush Kumar and Vivek Raghavan, Sarvam AI is focused on developing generative AI technologies that work effectively across Indian languages and local contexts. Both founders have previously contributed to national-scale digital and AI initiatives, including AI4Bharat.

The Tamil Nadu government said the Sovereign AI Park is expected to become a central hub for AI research, startups and public-sector deployments, positioning the state as a key node in India’s ambition to build trusted, locally governed artificial intelligence infrastructure.

First Published onJan 13, 2026 2:28 PM

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