New Delhi, Jul 24 (IANS): The government on Wednesday informed that more than 18.56 lakh candidates have signed-up on the 'FutureSkills PRIME Portal' and out of which, over 3.37 lakh have completed their course.

'FutureSkills PRIME' is a programme by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) for re-skilling and upskilling of IT manpower for employability in 10 emerging technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI)

In a reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Jitin Prasada, said that the government considers the next decade as 'India Techade'.

Under the scheme of Centers of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence implemented by MeitY in partnership with Nasscom, startups are supported for developing AI-based tools and applications that are of use for manufacturing companies.

Several such solutions have been deployed by companies in the manufacturing sector.

The 'Stanford AI Index 2024' highlights that India tops global AI skill penetration rates and AI talent concentration.

India's AI skill penetration is rated at 2.8, surpassing the US (2.2) and Germany (1.9).

Additionally, India's AI talent concentration has seen significant growth, with a 263 per cent increase from 2016 onwards.

"AI may result in automating some routine jobs but will also result in job creation in various data science, data curation, etc. This will require reskilling and upskilling," said the minister.

In addition, the National e-Governance Division (NeGD), MeitY in collaboration with its partners, has implemented 'YUVAi: Youth for Unnati and Vikas with AI' programme for school students with the objective of enabling them with AI tech and social skills.