AI-led Gyan Bharatam documents 44 lakh manuscripts, opens 1.29 lakh online

Published 18 June 2026 · tech

Artificial intelligence is being used under the Gyan Bharatam Mission to digitise and decode India’s manuscript heritage, with “over 44 lakh manuscripts documented”, according to

Artificial intelligence is being used under the Gyan Bharatam Mission to digitise and decode India’s manuscript heritage, with “over 44 lakh manuscripts documented”, according to a government data sheet shared on Thursday. The fact sheet, titled “Vikas Bhi, Virasat Bhi -- 12 Years of Preserving India’s Heritage”, was issued to mark 12 years of the Narendra Modi government. Along with the manuscript mission, the fact sheet highlighted the newly built Ram temple in Ayodhya, documentation work under the Mission on Monuments and Antiquities (NMMA), the Archaeological Survey of India’s conservation work, and the return of cultural artefacts to India in recent years. Read Full Story On manuscripts, the document said more than eight lakh digitised manuscripts in different formats are being reformatted as per Gyan Bharatam standard operating procedures. “Out of these 1.29 lakh manuscripts are accessible to the public on the Digital Repository (NDR),” it said. It also said a national manuscript survey was launched in March to identify, document and create a comprehensive national database of manuscripts. Announced in the Union Budget 2025-26, Gyan Bharatam is a flagship initiative of the Ministry of Culture to unearth, safeguard and preserve India’s manuscript heritage, while using modern technology to protect fragile material and improve access.

“To support the initiative, the Standing Finance Committee has sanctioned Rs 491.66 crore for the period 2025-2031,” Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat had said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha in February. The fact sheet also gave details on Ayodhya after the consecration of the Ram temple in January 2024. It said the city was being supported by large-scale urban development and was emerging as a major spiritual destination with better connectivity and infrastructure. “Tourism in Ayodhya is estimated to generate Rs 18,000 crore annually by 2028, with current tourism revenue of Rs 8,000–Rs 12,500 crore annually. Visitor numbers surged from 57.5 million in 2023 to over 160 million in 2024, with more than 230 million devotees in the first half of 2025,” according to the fact sheet. “The state is also investing over Rs 5,000 crore in development, with Ayodhya contributing nearly 25 per cent of Uttar Pradesh’s projected Rs 70,000 crore tourism economy by 2028,” it added. On conservation records, the document said the NMMA, which is implemented under the ASI, supports conservation by building a national database of built heritage and antiquities.