BharatGPT Mini: Empowering Inclusive AI Access in India

On June 11, 2025, CoRover, a Bengaluru-based AI startup specializing in conversational platforms, introduced BharatGPT Mini at the VivaTech 2025 event in Paris. This new innovation, launched by India’s Minister of State for Commerce & Industry and Electronics & IT, Jitin Prasada, represents a major leap forward in India’s AI capabilities. BharatGPT Mini is a small language model (SLM) built to run offline and support multiple Indian languages. With around 534 million parameters, it is optimized for devices with limited computing power and no internet connectivity, making it especially relevant for users in rural and underserved regions.

Launch Significance and National Context

The unveiling at a global stage like VivaTech highlights India’s growing role in the AI space. CoRover’s founding team—Ankush Sabharwal, Kunal Bhakhri, and Manav Gandotra—has established a reputation for building advanced AI systems tailored for real-world needs. The company secured ₹33.4 crore ($4 million) in funding in 2024, reflecting investor confidence in its mission. BharatGPT Mini is backed by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and IndiaAI, aligning with national goals outlined in the ₹10,000-crore IndiaAI Mission and complementary projects like BharatGen, a state-supported multilingual large language model introduced in June 2025.

India’s AI sector is on a growth trajectory, projected to be worth $17 billion by 2030. However, the majority of AI platforms available globally are English-centric, rely heavily on cloud infrastructure, and require high-end computing resources. This creates a digital divide, especially for users in semi-urban and rural areas. BharatGPT Mini addresses this divide by enabling localized, offline AI use across 14 Indian languages, such as Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, and Telugu.

Key Features and Architecture

BharatGPT Mini is compact and optimized for low-resource environments. While large models like Meta’s Llama 3.1 operate with hundreds of billions of parameters, BharatGPT Mini’s lean 534 million-parameter structure allows it to run smoothly on low-end smartphones, IoT devices, and entry-level servers. Its design includes several standout capabilities:

• Offline Use: The model does not require internet access, ideal for the 60% of rural regions in India that lack consistent connectivity.

• Multilingual Proficiency: It can understand and respond in 14 Indian languages, helping bridge the language barrier for over 1.2 billion people who primarily use regional dialects.

• Multimodal Interaction: BharatGPT Mini supports inputs across text, voice, and video, allowing for diverse use cases.

• Flexible Deployment: It works on both edge and server infrastructures, offering low latency and responsive performance.

• Developer-Friendly Tools: Using the CoRover Builder platform, users can develop AI assistants quickly, even without coding skills.

The model’s lightweight nature ensures seamless functionality on devices that dominate India’s tech landscape. It also emphasizes user data privacy by performing tasks directly on the device.

Strategic Value and Broader Impact

1. Enhancing Digital Inclusion
   BharatGPT Mini plays a vital role in extending AI access to regions with limited technological infrastructure. Its multilingual capabilities and offline functionality make it an essential tool for those without access to stable internet or English-language services.

2. Promoting Technological Autonomy
   This initiative supports India’s vision of developing indigenous AI systems and reducing dependence on imported solutions. It aligns with the country’s drive to create a sovereign digital ecosystem under the IndiaAI Mission.

3. Boosting the Economy
   Following its release, CoRover has seen a 60–70% rise in enterprise interest, suggesting that local businesses and institutions are eager to adopt cost-effective AI. Its deployment among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) could significantly boost digital productivity in India’s rapidly growing economy.

4. International Opportunities
   The model’s emphasis on low-compute environments makes it suitable for other developing nations facing similar challenges. This creates potential for India to lead in exporting scalable, multilingual edge AI solutions.

Use Cases Across Sectors

BharatGPT Mini is poised to bring transformative changes across various domains:

• Healthcare: It can facilitate telehealth services in native languages, offering automated voice support for scheduling, diagnostics, and patient communication in rural clinics.

• Education: With offline AI tutoring in local languages, it can deliver personalized learning experiences to students who lack access to high-speed internet.

• Banking: Voice- and text-based support in regional languages helps simplify customer service for millions of account holders in tier-2 and tier-3 cities.

• Public Services: Government platforms like CPGRAMS can use the model to better engage with citizens, collecting feedback and handling queries in multiple languages.

• Retail and Microenterprises: Small businesses can automate customer engagement and backend services using voice-enabled AI assistants, without needing costly cloud infrastructure.

CoRover’s low-code AI platform allows these applications to be developed rapidly and tailored to specific needs, making AI adoption accessible even for users with limited technical expertise.

Competitive Environment

India’s AI innovation space is becoming increasingly dynamic. Companies such as Sarvam AI, Gnani AI, and Krutrim are all working on multilingual models. Sarvam AI, for instance, has gained traction through government-backed GPU resources for a model with 120 billion parameters. BharatGen, another major player, focuses on 22 languages but requires cloud infrastructure.

In contrast, BharatGPT Mini differentiates itself with its offline capabilities and device-friendly model size. While international offerings like Llama 3.1 by Meta provide sophisticated multilingual processing, they remain inaccessible to low-income users due to hardware demands. That said, competition from tech giants like Google and emerging Indian players remains a challenge.

Obstacles and Considerations

Despite its advantages, BharatGPT Mini faces several hurdles:

1. Linguistic Diversity: With over 22 official languages and countless dialects, achieving linguistic accuracy remains an ongoing task.

2. Scalability: Expanding usage to millions of people while maintaining consistent performance is a complex challenge.

3. Market Awareness: Rural communities and small enterprises might lack knowledge or confidence in adopting AI tools, necessitating training and outreach.

4. Regulatory Compliance: Even with local processing, the model must adhere to data privacy laws under India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDP) of 2023.

5. Competitive Pressure: Larger, more advanced models could outpace BharatGPT Mini unless it continues innovating and expanding its language and functional scope.

Stakeholder Impacts

• Government: BharatGPT Mini supports key national policies like Digital India and the IndiaAI Mission by enhancing public service reach through native-language support.

• Businesses and Startups: Enterprises, especially SMBs, benefit from affordable, low-resource AI that can be deployed without complex infrastructure.

• Citizens: Rural populations and regional language speakers gain access to smarter services in areas like health, education, and finance.

• Global Developers: The model’s success could serve as a blueprint for similar efforts in other countries with multilingual and infrastructural challenges.

Looking Ahead

Initially released on a restricted basis through the CoRover Builder platform, BharatGPT Mini is expected to be widely available by late 2025. Plans are underway to enhance the model’s language capabilities and integrate advanced features such as real-time translation and emotion recognition.

If CoRover continues to improve performance and usability, BharatGPT Mini could become a defining solution for inclusive, locally adapted AI. Optimism about its potential is already circulating on platforms like X (formerly Twitter), where many see it as a crucial tool for bridging India’s digital divide.

Conclusion

BharatGPT Mini represents a major milestone in India’s journey toward inclusive and self-reliant AI technology. Its lightweight design, multilingual support, and offline capabilities offer real solutions to infrastructure and accessibility challenges that affect millions. As India continues investing in its AI ecosystem, BharatGPT Mini is set to play a central role in ensuring that the benefits of AI reach every corner of the country—and potentially beyond.