Bhashini mobile app, India’s own AI-driven language translation tool, is expected to assist more than 1 crore users in the country in the next two years. Launched in 2022, the pathbreaking initiative aimed at democratizing access to digital content and services across India’s linguistic spectrum is already helping nearly 10 lakh citizens translate content in various Indian languages enabling them to communicate effectively. In an exclusive interaction with The Hitavada, Amitabh Nag, Chief Executive Officer, Digital India Bhashini Division, said that today majority of the users are concentrated in metro cities.

 

“We are now looking at reaching out to masses, especially the youths, in tier II, tier III cities and rural pockets of the country. In collaboration with the Government of Maharashtra, we are conducting ‘Maha Hackathon Challenge 1.0’ in the State. Besides creating awareness, we are also inspiring startups and innovators in Nagpur to submit their breakthrough ideas for empowering AI-driven innovations to revolutionize public service delivery in Maharashtra,” he said. While the first session of Maha Hackathon Challenge 1.0 was recently conducted at IIM Nagpur, authorities are planning its next session in Pune in coming days. Amitabh Nag said that the mobile app allows users to converse through three key features - Text, Voice, and Converse.

 

The Text feature supports translation into 22 Indian languages, while the Converse and Speak features each cover 20 languages, contributing to enhanced linguistic accessibility and understanding. “We are now looking at achieving the next level of the app. Bhashini on behalf of Government of Maharashtra is inviting innovative ideas to improve our chatbot, anti drone system, use of drones in rescue operations and ‘speech to speech’ translation tool for Marathi language,” he said. Bhashini, an abbreviation for “Bhasha Interface for India,” is developed under the National Language Translation Mission (NLTM) by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India. Bhashini operates as an AI-driven language translation system, breaking down language barriers and enabling conversations between speakers of different Indian languages. The platform is accessible through dedicated Android and iOS apps, providing a user-friendly experience.