Digital India BHASHINI Division (DIBD) under Digital India Corporation (DIC), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has launched the VYOMA Innovation Challenge
Initiative is in collaboration with Current AI and Kalpa Impact
Challenge aims to promote development of open-source, multilingual, voice-first AI solutions that operate in offline and low-connectivity environments
Builds on Sunno Sutra, a multilingual, voice-first, open-source handheld AI reference device jointly developed by BHASHINI and Current AI
Sunno Sutra unveiled at IndiaAI Impact Summit 2026
Sunno Sutra combines multilingual language technologies with on-device AI capabilities
Enables conversational AI experiences across Indian languages without cloud infrastructure dependence
Challenge invites startups, researchers, students, academic institutions, MSMEs, industry partners and independent innovators
Participants to build on Sunno Sutra platform through new use cases, hardware improvements, model optimization and deployment-ready applications
Focus on making devices smaller, more efficient and better suited for diverse field conditions
Potential applications span education, agriculture, healthcare, governance and public service delivery
Challenge conducted in multiple stages beginning with open application process
Twenty shortlisted teams will receive developer kits and access to Sunno Sutra platform
Participants will receive technical mentorship from BHASHINI and Current AI experts
Finalists showcase prototypes before expert jury
Winning teams eligible for prizes worth up to ₹80 lakh (8 million rupees)
Deployment opportunities with central and state government departments
Applications open at: https://bhashini.gov.in/sahyogi/hackathon/open-handheld-ai
BHASHINI is India's national initiative for AI-driven multilingual digital inclusion and language technology
Operates through National Hub for Language Technology (NHLT)
Enables scalable speech and text-based AI services across Indian languages
Powers over 800 government websites
Processes more than 15 million inferences daily
Supports 36 Indian text languages, 23 Indian voice languages, and 35 international languages
Drives open-source innovation, multilingual AI research, dataset creation, startup enablement, and academic collaboration
