India AI Mission Launches Indigenous Varya AI Video Model
Avataar.ai, an AI-native transformation company, launched Varya, a distilled video generation model developed with support from the IndiaAI Mission under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). The launch was unveiled at a press event in New Delhi in the presence of Shri S. Krishnan, Secretary of MeitY, alongside Avataar's leadership team.
Varya represents a significant technical advancement in AI video generation, utilizing a distillation technique that reduces the video generation process from 50 steps to just 4 steps while maintaining comparable output quality. According to Avataar's internal benchmarks, the model can generate video at ₹0.48 per second, making it up to 10 times more cost-efficient than several leading global video models.
The model has been specifically designed for India's diverse contexts, capable of understanding and generating culturally rich visual outputs across India's regions, festivals, communities, food, clothing, public spaces, and everyday life. The product experience is designed around a simple workflow: Idea → Video → Story, where users can type an idea, upload an image, generate a video, and continue the story through additional clips.
Secretary S. Krishnan emphasized that Varya represents the kind of research-led capability building that IndiaAI Mission seeks to enable, calling it a "significant milestone in India's AI journey" that reflects the government's commitment to building indigenous AI capabilities and fostering a vibrant deep-tech ecosystem. He noted that through strategic support for foundational models, the mission is enabling innovation at scale and creating building blocks for next-generation AI solutions.
Sravanth Aluru, CEO and Co-Founder of Avataar, emphasized that India's AI opportunity will be defined by efficient models rather than just large models, stating that "affordability is not a feature, it is a prerequisite" for a country of 1.4 billion people. The company will publish a technical report outlining Varya's model architecture, distillation methodology, and benchmarks.
The development was enabled by access to subsidized national AI compute infrastructure through the IndiaAI Mission, highlighting how public AI infrastructure can accelerate homegrown innovation. Varya is positioned to serve multiple use cases including education (visual lessons for village classrooms), MSMEs (product advertisements), and public information access through video format.