Overview
- Maharashtra’s cabinet, meeting Wednesday, approved the AI Policy 2026 that targets over Rs 10,000 crore in investment and about 1.5 lakh jobs by 2031.
- The policy builds an AI backbone through a Maharashtra AI Mission, six Centres of Excellence, five innovation city clusters, and a shared compute facility with at least 2,000 GPUs (graphics processors) for high‑end AI work in public agencies.
- To expand use and talent, the state plans to train two lakh people, seed a Rs 500 crore startup fund with a Rs 250 crore state share, support 5,000 MSMEs with a 20 percent subsidy, and open 12 incubators offering grants up to Rs 1 crore with added support for women‑led firms.
- Data and guardrails sit at the core of the plan with a State AI Data Exchange tied to national platforms, new datasets in Marathi and tribal languages, and an ethical AI framework that includes yearly readiness audits for departments.
- The cabinet also cleared the MAGESTIC power programme, a Rs 12,303 crore push to lift renewables toward 50 percent by 2030 through 40 new substations, grid upgrades, and 16,000 MWh of battery storage, alongside social measures including an Ambedkar Chair at LSE with Rs 37 crore, higher scholarships for students with disabilities, land for a new Kendriya Vidyalaya in Ratnagiri, and career progression benefits for 7,500 non‑teaching staff in tribal schools.