Thiruvananthapuram (Keralam) [India], June 19 (ANI): The Keralam Government led by Chief Minister V D Satheesan on Friday announced a pioneering ‘Malayalam AI Initiative’ and a dedicated Rs 50 crore fund for Generation Z (Gen-Z) startups in its State Budget.
The chief minister who holds the Finance Potfolio too also announced massive geospatial governance project in the revised 2026-27 State Budget presented in the Legislative Assembly.
Presenting the Budget in the Assembly, Satheesan emphasized that Malayalam must not be left behind in the era of Artificial Intelligence and announced that his government has allocated Rs 10 crore to develop an open Malayalam dataset and support the creation of indigenous AI models.
Kerala made history by becoming the first state in India to launch a dedicated Artificial Intelligence ministry/portfolio, consolidating policies, startups, and ethical development under one umbrella. The state is rapidly integrating AI into public governance, disaster forecasting, healthcare, and is even developing its own hardware.
Recognising “Generation Z” as a transformative force born into the digital age, Satheesan in his Budget speech today said the UDF-led government has allocated Rs 50 crore to integrate their excellence into Kerala’s startups, innovation hubs, and research centres.
The initiative aims to leverage Gen-Z’s rapid adoption of Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Data Science, Internet of Things (IoT), and Virtual Reality (VR) while maintaining a strict focus on digital ethics, privacy protection, and cyber security.
“This generation will become an important driving force of the future economy and industries,” the Chief Minister said.
Under the newly announced ‘Mission Geo Keralam,’ Keralam aims to become one of the first states in India to mainstream spatial governance.
Satheesan said that his government plans to transform the Kerala State Remote Sensing and Environment Centre (KSREC) into the primary geospatial governance institution, establishing an integrated Kerala Geospatial Intelligence Platform (KGIS).
By utilizing AI and real-time analytics, the State intends to make spatial intelligence as fundamental to governance as physical infrastructure.
A corpus fund will be created to facilitate this technological reorganization.
Further, in a major boost to the state’s IT infrastructure, the budget proposed a massive upgrade for the Cyberpark at Kozhikode. The government plans to elevate the park to the level of Kochi’s Infopark and Thiruvananthapuram’s Technopark, aiming to decentralize the IT boom and create a world-class technology ecosystem in Northern Kerala.
“Kozhikode Cyber Park will be upgraded to the standards of Infopark Kochi and Technopark Thiruvananthapuram,” Satheesan said.
The budget, Satheesan said will pave the way for a ‘Puthuyuga Kerala’ or new-age Keralam.
The revised budget of the UDF Government will serve as a definitive blueprint for the developmental and welfare initiatives to be implemented across the State over the next five years, said the Chief Minister. (ANI)
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