The rapid progress in digital technologies and the advent of AI have brought both massive opportunities and challenges to the governments. Maharashtra took on these challenges early to pave a highway for its digital economy. The state has taken a pioneering step by introducing its dedicated MahaAgri AI policy 2025-29, aligning with the national IndiaAI Mission. At the heart of this initiative is a mission for people-centric use of technology, which is manifested in its innovative AI-based apps like ‘Shiksha Sathi’, ‘Kumbhdoot’, and ‘Mahavistar-AI.’ Other major initiatives by the state include MahaAGX, MahaGPT, MahaCrimeOS-AI, MoU with Google for land data records, etc., touching many aspects of citizens’ lives. The government is also creating the necessary institutional frameworks to integrate these apps with the state’s e-governance infrastructure.
At the India AI Impact Summit 2026 held in New Delhi, Maharashtra emerged as a frontrunner in adopting and deploying AI, especially for governance and agriculture, earning significant recognition for its “policy-led, ecosystem-driven” model. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis delivered a keynote address at the summit, emphasizing AI’s amazing power for transformation with great speed and scale and how Maharashtra is gearing up to make the most by developing its AI policies and applications and integrating them with the state’s e-governance infrastructure. Explaining how the state’s e-governance reforms have led to significant increase in the user base with the last person in rural and remote areas availing the online delivery of governance, he mentioned the key achievements like digital land records, AI-driven citizen support chatbots, and integrating them into administration, and his government’s increasing initiatives to adopt data analytics, AI, and geospatial information systems to improve accuracy and efficiency. The Chief Minister also underscored MahaVistarAI app which is a comprehensive AI-based guidance app for the farmers under the state’s MahaAgriAI Policy 2025-29, to help them with climate-resilient farming.
During the India AI Impact Summit 2026, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis interacted with several renowned global technology leaders to discuss the scopes for new technology adoptions in Maharashtra. One of them was Sam Altman, head of Open AI, with whom the CM discussed and signed a Letter of Intent for launching an AI Sandbox for up to 12 priority government projects, enabling AI-powered citizen service platforms across agriculture, health, education, judiciary, IT and urban & rural development. He also interacted with Nandan Nilekani, the brain behind the Aadhaar initiative, on expanding digital infrastructure in the state. He also held important meetings with Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw of Biocon, James Manica of Google, and senior leaders from the World Bank. On this occasion, the Chief Minister launched three major AI-based apps, meant for masses – the “Shiksha Saathi” AI tool for Anganwadi workers that will aid in the educational development of young children, the “Kumbhdoot” AI app for Nashik kumbh Mela, launched to provide information and security to millions of devotees in the upcoming Simhastha Kumbh Mela in Nashik, and the “Mahavistar-AI” platform for farmers that addresses various agricultural challenges faced by the farmers by providing accurate guidance. The Mahavistar-AI has reached over 2.5 million farmers already, which speaks for the app’s popularity and effectiveness in pre-empting losses due to drought, flood, or pests. Significantly, since 2026 is the International Year of Women Farmers, efforts are also underway to explore ways to meet the needs of women farmers using AI.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in his speech also underlined the active transition of his government towards predictive governance. This suggests a shift from a reactive to a proactive approach by the public administration, integrating artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and big data analytics across key sectors to anticipate societal risks, policy needs, and infrastructure demands before they become critical issues. This strategic move will greatly increase accountability and administrative efficiency and enhance service delivery for citizens. Given its large size and diverse challenges, Maharashtra’s push for aligning AI with government machinery to drive rapid and inclusive growth was highly commended and caught the notice of the global community at the India AI Impact Summit 2026.
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