New Delhi, Feb 19: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday reviewed a live demonstration of indigenous Artificial Intelligence technology as HMD India announced a strategic partnership with startup Sarvam AI at the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi.
The partnership aims to integrate Sarvam’s AI-powered personal assistant into Nokia feature phones and HMD devices, expanding access to advanced AI capabilities for millions of non-smartphone users across India. The initiative represents a significant step toward mass-market AI deployment in the feature phone segment, which continues to serve a substantial user base in the country.
Ravi Kunwar, Vice President and CEO of HMD India and APAC, described the demonstration before the Prime Minister as a defining milestone in the company’s digital inclusion strategy. He stated that the collaboration reinforces HMD’s commitment to democratising AI by delivering localised and intuitive AI experiences beyond the smartphone ecosystem.
The rollout of AI-enabled services across multiple feature phone models is planned in the coming months, signalling a broader push to embed AI capabilities into entry-level mobile devices.
During the summit, Sarvam AI showcased real-time speech recognition, translation and text-to-speech functionalities in 10 Indian languages on an HMD Nokia feature phone. Notably, the system operated without internet connectivity, highlighting advancements in on-device AI processing and low-bandwidth optimisation.
Sarvam AI’s technology is being developed under the IndiaAI Mission, with a focus on linguistic diversity and culturally relevant AI solutions. By enabling voice-based access to information and digital services in regional languages, the initiative seeks to reduce barriers to digital adoption and extend AI-driven services to underserved populations.
