The Maharashtra government has officially approved the state’s comprehensive Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy 2026.
The landmark initiative lays down an ambitious roadmap to generate more than 1.5 lakh AI-linked jobs and attract over ₹10,000 crore in technology investments by the year 2031.
Speaking at the inaugural edition of the ImagiNxt 2026 tech festival at the Jio World Convention Centre, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis positioned the state at the absolute forefront of India’s digital transformation.
He tied the tech-centric blueprint directly to Maharashtra’s broader goal of morphing into a massive $1 trillion regional economy by 2030.
Building Massive Infrastructure: Innovation Cities and GPU Compute
To aggressively anchor this workforce expansion, Maharashtra’s newly ratified cabinet policy mandates the immediate deployment of large-scale public and private infrastructure.
The government plans to establish five dedicated AI Innovation Cities alongside six specialized AI Centres of Excellence designed to spearhead sector-specific research across public governance, health, and industries.
To bridge the high computing hardware gap that frequently hampers smaller tech businesses, the state will provision a shared compute infrastructure boasting a massive cluster of 2,000 Graphic Processing Units (GPUs).
Furthermore, a network of 12 state-backed AI incubators will be constructed to mentor early-stage developers.
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Maharashtra Fueling the Startup Ecosystem and Deep-Tech Innovations
Recognizing that startups will heavily drive these 1.5 lakh projected employment opportunities, the state has cleared the creation of a dedicated ₹500-crore AI Startup Fund.
he government specifically structured this capital pool to offer financial runway to deep-tech ventures pioneering autonomous and data-led software systems within regional borders.
Union Minister of State for Science and Technology, Jitendra Singh, who also attended the tech summit, praised Maharashtra’s proactive alignment with central initiatives.
He highlighted that the initiative operates alongside the central government’s proposed ₹1 lakh crore Research, Development, and Innovation Fund, creating a synchronized investment safety net for rising next-gen entrepreneurs.
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About the Author
Sahiba Sharma
Contributing Writer