I&B Ministry Launches ‘Kalaa Setu’ Challenge to Power AI-Driven Multilingual Content for India – The Statesman
In a strategic push to harness the power of AI for inclusive communication, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, through its WaveX Startup Accelerator Platform, has launched the “Kalaa Setu – Real-Time Language Tech for Bharat” Challenge.
Statesman News Service | New Delhi | July 8, 2025 4:32 pm
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In a strategic push to harness the power of AI for inclusive communication, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, through its WaveX Startup Accelerator Platform, has launched the “Kalaa Setu – Real-Time Language Tech for Bharat” Challenge.
Launched recently, the ministry has called out the AI startups in the country to develop indigenous, scalable solutions for the automated generation of audio, video, and graphic content from textual inputs, with support for multiple Indian languages.
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As part of the challenge, Kalaa Setu focuses on solutions that support three core areas of AI-driven content generation including text-to-video generation, text-t generation, and text-audio generation.
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In a statement issued here on Tuesday, the Ministry said that with the increasing digital governance in the country, the ability to communicate with citizens in their languages, instantly and effectively, has gained paramount importance. Traditional methods of content creation face limitations today to keep pace with the scale, speed, and diversity required for meaningful public outreach. There is a strong push to adopt AI-based solutions that can bridge linguistic divides and ensure last-mile information delivery across the country, the statement said.
The text-to-video generation allows for the automated creation of video content from text, with the ability to customise the environment, tone, and subject matter to suit different communication needs. Further, the text-to-graphics generation enables the production of data-driven infographics and illustrative visuals that make complex information easier to understand and visually engaging.
The text-to-audio generation uses advanced voice synthesis to produce speech that is not only accurate but also emotionally expressive and sensitive to regional accents, enhancing relatability and impact in multilingual contexts.
Stating that the Kalaa Setu challenge aims to bridge the digital language divide by enabling public communication bodies to dynamically transform official information into regionally resonant formats such as infographic visuals, contextualised video explainers, and audio news capsules, in real time, the Ministry has opened the registration for interested parties.
The startups can register for the challenge through the WAVEX portal with the last date for submitting the working Minimum Viable Concept (MVC) being July 30th. They also have to submit a video demo of the product.
The final shortlisted teams will present their solutions before a national jury in New Delhi, with the winner receiving an MoU for full-scale development, pilot support with AIR, DD, and PIB, and incubation under the WAVEX Innovation Platform, the statement added.
Earlier, the ministry had launched the ‘Bhasha Setu’, the real-time language translation challenge launched under WaveX on June 30. The last date to apply through WaveX till July 22.
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