‘2025 is the year of AI’: AICTE looks to shape India as a global leader

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has announced 2025 as the “Year of Artificial Intelligence (AI)” to shape India as a global leader in AI. The initiatives under this declaration by the technical education regulator will span across AICTE-approved institutions, impacting over 14,000 colleges and 40 million students nationwide. “With this bold announcement, AICTE aims to embed AI within the fabric of higher education, fostering innovation, ethics, and leadership to position India as a global leader in AI-driven progress,” AICTE said in a statement.

In a letter, AICTE chairman TG Sitharam has urged all its affiliated institutions to submit their AI implementation plans by December 31, which will be reviewed by its approval bureau, with top submissions featured as benchmarks for other institutions. He has urged the AICTE-approved institutions to adopt five measures to “affirm India’s leadership in AI”. “...Let us unite to build a future-ready workforce. Together, we can shape India as a global leader in AI innovation, ethics, and education, fulfilling our shared vision of self-reliance and prosperity,” he said.

The five measures include institutions taking pledge to make India a global leader in AI through innovation, ethics, and education, displaying this commitment prominently on campuses; launching AI awareness campaigns; updating curricula to include AI topic fostering interdisciplinary approaches; conducting workshops and certifications to equip faculty with AI teaching expertise; and partnering with AI-driven organisations to provide real-world exposure through internship, projects and mentorship.

Ankit Chaudhary, professor and acting dean at School of Engineering (SoE), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) said, “... technology changes after every five years and we have to update ourselves accordingly... We regularly take feedback from industry leaders and prepare curriculum to train our students for better jobs.”