R Kumar, TN Minister for Artifical Intelligence, IT and Digital Services , speaking at the FICCI Digital Disruption and Transformation Summit, in Chennai
| Photo Credit:
Bijoy Ghosh
The Government of Tamil Nadu is evaluating locations for the setting up of an ‘AI city’ that will help the state in harnessing the potential of the technology and drive economic growth. R Kumar, Minister for Artificial Intelligence, Information Technology and Digital Services for the Government of Tamil Nadu, said that rather than just an industrial park, the AI city will function as an integrated ecosystem. It will include AI companies and start-ups, universities and research institutions, Global Capability Centres (GCCs) and Centres for semiconductor and advanced technology research. He added that the proposed AI city will span 2,000-3,000 acres with development soon expected to begin on an initial 100-acre parcel. He also mentioned that the government has identified three to four potential locations in and around Chennai as well as other major districts. The minister did not provide further specifics on the timeline and location.“AI will be the next foundation of economic growth and much of the future GDP growth will be AI-led. We are also working on bringing in AI education from Class 1 through Class 12. The objective is to build an AI-ready workforce rather than treating AI as a specialised skill learned only in college,” he said.Kumar was speaking to the press on the sidelines of Digital Transformation 10, the tenth edition of the annual tech conference hosted by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). AI-led reformsMeanwhile, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) had in its election manifesto promised to bring in a slew of AI-led reforms across government services, healthcare, agriculture and other sectors. It has also become one of the first state governments to create a dedicated Artificial Intelligence Ministry. Varun Mohan, co-founder of Windsurf AI and Director at Google Deepmind who addressed the conference virtually suggested that AI will increasingly democratise software development. “It will be good for businesses, including small businesses and in the near future we will move from autocompleting code AI agents, to hundreds or thousands of agents who can do autonomous work,” he said.Aleksandr Fomin, Acting Consulate General of the Russian Federation in India, said that Russia is ready to support joint projects between Russian and Indian developers, including model localization and the exchange of expertise.The event also saw the presence of Atul Anand, Additional Chief Secretary, IT and digital services Government of Tamil Nadu and Professor Sathya Chakraborty, Professor at IIT Madras, and co-founder of The eplane Company. Published on July 30, 2026
