Bhubaneswar, December 17: Ahead of the Regional AI Impact Conference, Odisha, which will be held in Bhubaneswar from December 18-20, State Electronics & IT Minister Dr Mukesh Mahaling participated in a curtain raiser programme on Wednesday. The Curtain Raiser offered an early preview of Odisha’s AI vision, policy direction, and growing portfolio of real-world AI deployments.
The curtain raiser offered an early preview of Odisha’s AI vision, policy direction, and growing portfolio of real-world AI deployments. Being organised by the Electronics & IT Department, the Conference will serve as an official precursor to the India AI Impact Summit 2026.
“Odisha is taking a future-ready approach to technology-led growth. With the Odisha AI Policy 2025, alongside progressive policies for FinTech, Global Capability Centres, and advanced electronics, we are building a clear, responsible, and investor-friendly framework for population-scale AI adoption,” Minister Mahaling.
He said, “Our focus is not just on infrastructure, but on creating a complete innovation ecosystem that is backed by strong governance, world-class digital capabilities, and long-term policy certainty. Our key focus is on building an ecosystem that enables enterprises to build, scale, and lead from Odisha,” said Mahaling.
E&IT Secretary Vishal Dev said, “The Odisha AI Summit is designed as a platform to demonstrate real progress, not just promise. The Regional AI Impact Conference is closely aligned with the upcoming India AI Impact Summit that will be held in Delhi in Feb 2026, and is in fact, an official precursor event, demonstrating Odisha’s close alignment with India’s AI Mission.”
Ahead of the conference, an IndiaAI Working Group Meeting, jointly convened by the Ministry of Information and Technology and Government of Odisha, will be at the Mayfair Convention Centre on December 18.
The session will bring together key stakeholders from Union and State governments, academia, and industry to deliberate on operationalising the IndiaAI Mission, with a focus on data infrastructure, compute, skilling, and sectoral AI use cases.
The Summit is expected to result in the signing of key MoUs, formalising partnerships that will support Odisha’s AI journey; showcase the State’s progress across priority areas; and build momentum for long-term AI initiatives by fostering alignment among government departments, industry, academia, and research institutions.
