TCS, NEC India, Kyndryl among 6 firms picked by MeitY's for govt AI projects - Moneycontrol.com
Empanelment creates a ready pool of AI vendors that ministries, states and PSUs can tap for manpower and project delivery NeGD creates a common procurement
Empanelment creates a ready pool of AI vendors that ministries, states and PSUs can tap for manpower and project delivery NeGD creates a common procurement route for AI talent and implementation services Six firms picked to deliver AI/ML services for Digital India Empanelment valid for two years, extendable by one year Selected firms include TCS, NEC, CTSPL, CoRover, Innefu, Kyndryl Did our AI summary help? The ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) has picked six companies, including Tata Consultancy Services and NEC Corporation India, to provide artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) personnel and services across central ministries and departments for various projects.
The remaining four companies are Cactus Technology Solutions Pvt Ltd (CTSPL), CoRover Pvt Ltd, Innefu Labs Ltd, Kyndryl Solutions Pvt Ltd, official records reviewed by Moneycontrol show. The six firms were selected from a pool of 80 bidders, which also included companies such as Deloitte, Ernst and Young, Fractal Analytics, Gnani, PwC and KPMG. The empanelment was done by e-Governance Division (NeGD), the Digital India programme implementation arm under the IT ministry. These companies will address specific requirements across domains such as citizen services, analytics, process optimisation and automation. The empanelment will remain valid for two years from the date of issuance of the letter, with the option to extend it by up to one year.
According to information available with Moneycontrol, Innefu Labs bid the lowest with Rs 40.67 lakh; TCS followed a close second with Rs 42.89 lakh; NEC Corporation India bid Rs 48.98 lakh; Cactus Communication Rs 52.74 lakh; Kyndryl Rs 55.70 lakh; and CoRover bid Rs 69.00 lakh. Moneycontrol has reached out to the six companies and the article will be updated when a response is received. The empanelment comes as the Centre increasingly looks to deploy AI across ministries and departments, both for citizen-facing services and internal governance functions. By creating a common panel of vendors and standardising commercial terms, the government is seeking to reduce procurement timelines.
On June 3, Moneycontrol reported that the government wants an AI platform to help it draft tenders in a bid to reduce the time spent on them. The empanelment will also allow central ministries, state government departments, public sector undertakings and their affiliated organisations to use the agencies for awarding AI-related work. While such entities may directly engage the vendors, they are required to keep NeGD informed of such engagements.
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