Govt Launches Kalaa Setu Challenge For AI Start-ups In Indian Languages

New Delhi, Jul 8 (KNN) The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has announced the launch of the ‘Kalaa Setu – Real-Time Language Tech for Bharat’ Challenge through its WaveX Start-up Accelerator Platform.

The nationwide initiative seeks to engage India's artificial intelligence start-ups in developing indigenous solutions for automated content generation across multiple Indian languages.

The challenge targets three primary areas of AI-driven content creation including Text-to-video generation, Text-to-graphics generation and Text-to-audio generation.

The initiative aims to address the digital language divide by enabling public communication bodies to convert official information into regionally appropriate formats including infographic visuals, contextualised video explanations, and audio news capsules in real-time.

The program seeks to serve diverse populations, fr0m farmers accessing weather alerts to students receiving examination updates and senior citizens learning about healthcare schemes, ensuring information delivery in locally relevant languages.

Participating start-ups must register through the WAVEX portal at under the ‘Kalaa Setu’ challenge category.

Applications require submission of a working Minimum Viable Concept by July 30th, 2025, accompanied by a video demonstration of the proposed product.

Selected teams will present their solutions to a national jury in New Delhi, with the winning entry receiving a memorandum of understanding for full-scale development, pilot support with All India Radio, Doordarshan, and the Press Information Bureau, and incubation opportunities under the WAVEX Innovation Platform.

The ministry has also maintained the ‘Bhasha Setu’ real-time language translation challenge, which launched on June 30th, 2025.

Start-ups may continue to apply for this initiative until July 22nd, 2025, through the same WaveX portal under the Bhasha Setu challenge category.

By promoting indigenous innovation in multilingual content generation and real-time language translation, the initiatives aim to bridge communication gaps and ensure comprehensive information delivery across all Indian languages.

The Kalaa Setu and Bhasha Setu challenges represent strategic steps toward establishing a digitally inclusive ecosystem that acknowledges India's linguistic and cultural diversity while supporting start-up innovation.

(KNN Bureau)