Maharashtra Budget: Government signs MoUs with OpenAI, Sarvam AI, IIT Bombay, BharatGen to boost state’s IT sector

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Maharahstra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on March 6 announced that the government has signed letters of intent with prominent global and national level artificial intelligence (AI) companies to boost the state’s information technology sector.

These memorandum of understanding (MoUs) have been signed with OpenAI, Sarvam AI, IIT Bombay and BharatGen, Fandavis said. He was presenting the State Budget 2026-2027 in Mumbai.

He said, “With the objective of making State's Information Technology an Artificial Intelligence sector, dynamic, Letters of intent have been signed with the global and national reputed institutions like OpenAI and Sarvam AI to facilitate Information Technology and Artificial Intelligence sector in the state. The Government has also signed MoUs with IIT, Mumbai and BharatGen."

The state is also investing and pushing for speedy AI-focused policymaking.

Fadnavis announced that to ensure effective policymaking, speedy decision making and accountability, an independent Department of Electronics, Information Technology and Artificial Intelligence will be set up.

“This department will be supported by an independent dedicated Commissionerate

with adequate technical manpower,” he said.

The Maharashtra government has been very actively partnering with American technology giants in integrating AI into its governance practices. A key example has been its recent partnership with Microsoft to launch MahaCrimeOS AI.

MahaCrimeOS AI is already augmenting officers with AI tools to resolve cases fasters, even reduce investigation time by 80 percent. The platform has been alive across 23 police stations in Nagpur, and will be rolled out to the rest of the state.