Mumbai, Jan 1 (Reporter) Maharashtra Information Technology Minister Ashish Shelar on Wednesday directed his officials to prepare the first Artificial Intelligence (AI) policy of the state so that it becomes a leader amidst the global competition on such technology. Speaking in a review meeting of the IT department, Shelar said more industries and businesses will prosper by using AI technology, while the youth will get employment and Maharashtra will be able to compete effectively in the global competition of technology. Shelar said the era of AI technology has begun. Maharashtra should take the lead in this field. "By using AI effectively, we can attract more industries and businesses and provide employment opportunities to the youth. This is an opportunity to strengthen Maharashtra's position in the global competition," he said. Under the 'India AI Mission' launched in March, 2024, a fund of Rs 10,372 crore has been sanctioned for building AI capacity across the country. These include the India AI Datasets Platform, Application Development Projects, Graphic Processing Units, India AI Innovation Centre, Future Skills Program and funding for AI startups. The central government will start collecting non-personal datasets from January 2025. This will help startups, companies, educational institutes and research to develop apps, serve different languages ​​and provide specialised services, he added...////...