Archive · 6 Aug 2026
Maharashtra Approves Sarvam AI Sovereign Solutions for Digital Governance
The government of Maharashtra, a state in India, decided to use a special computer program called artificial intelligence, or AI, to help its workers do their jobs.
A company named Sarvam AI will provide this technology.
The program is called sovereign AI, which means it is made in India and keeps all government information inside India.
This keeps the data safe and private.
About 2,500 government workers will get a digital workspace called Indus.
Indus can help write documents, answer questions, and talk in 22 different Indian languages, including Marathi.
The government will also use tools called Samvaad, Saaras, and Bulbul to talk to people and to understand speech.
Samvaad will call tuberculosis patients to help spread health awareness.
The government will pay Rs 11.26 crore over two years for all of this.
The goal is to make government services faster and easier for everyone.
The Maharashtra government approved a Rs 11.26 crore two-year outlay for Sarvam AI's sovereign artificial intelligence solutions.
Indus, a sovereign AI workspace, will be deployed for around 2,500 state government users with a first-year indicative cost of Rs 5.63 crore.
The package includes Samvaad, a voice and WhatsApp-based citizen outreach agent, and the Saaras and Bulbul speech models for the MahaAI platform.
All government data will be hosted on secure and audited infrastructure within India, ensuring no data leaves the country.
A one-month pilot of the Samvaad AI agent will make tuberculosis awareness outreach calls to patients in local languages and analyse call quality.
- Who
- The Maharashtra state government, through a High-Power Committee headed by the chief secretary, and AI company Sarvam AI.
- What
- Approved the deployment of sovereign AI solutions, including the Indus workspace, Samvaad citizen outreach agents, and Saaras and Bulbul speech models for government departments.
- When
- Not specified in the article.
- Where
- Maharashtra, India.
- Why
- To enable secure digital transformation with data sovereignty, ensuring government data never leaves India and enhancing public services.
- Total outlay
- Rs 11.26 crore over two years
- First-year indicative cost
- Rs 5.63 crore
- Number of users
- Around 2,500 state government users
- Subscription rate
- Rs 1,200 per user per month (Foundation Partner) vs Rs 2,500 standard
- One-time professional services fee
- Rs 50 lakh
- Languages supported
- 22 languages including Marathi
- Saaras speech recognition charge
- Rs 0.50 per minute (API usage)
- TB awareness pilot cost
- Rs 6 lakh agent development plus Rs 3 per minute usage