BENGALURU: Despite hundreds of engineering colleges and government polytechnics in Karnataka, the department of technical education and higher education in the state has established two Artificial Intelligence Centres of Excellence (CoE) under the Corporate Social Responsibility Act by two private firms in the same college, Sri Krishnarajendra Silver Jubilee Technological Institute (SKSJTI) campus in Bengaluru, that too in a span of six months.
Thus, leaving engineering and diploma students studying in tier 2 and tier 3 cities government colleges with less opportunities for internships, mentoring, networking and enhancement of skills.
While AI Centre of Excellence in Green Skills and Applied AI for climate action, established by One Million for One Billion (1M1B) in collaboration with Microsoft and MeiTY Startup Hub was launched on February 12, another AI Centre of Excellence Gaming Garage meant to teach AI skills in Animation and Gaming was established by Hewelett Packard (HP) in September 2025.
The Higher Education Minister, Dr M C Sudhakar has reiterated that these centres are open for students from other government institutions across the state to experiment and learn, a large number of students studying in tier 2 and tier 3 cities cannot afford expensive accommodation, food for months in a bigger city like Bengaluru.
Speaking to TNIE, Manjushree N, Commissioner for the Department of Collegiate and Technical Education, said, "We have tried to establish some labs through Toyota and Samsung to help students enhance their skills in their respective departments in other districts. But those labs aren't as big as these two. The reason for establishing two labs in the same institution was the shortage of time and the interest of the firm. They came up with a proposal in a short timeand we didn't have much time to visit every college in other districts. We had to provide them with the space at one of our government institutions, and we thought SKSJTI was the right place. Or else, the private firms would have chosen a private college or another state."
She added, "There are a good number of students who come from rural areas to study at SKSJTI and they will be able to use these two facilities. Even students from other government institutions across the state can make the most of the institute."
First CoE in Green skills in a government college in B'luru
The Centre of Excellence in Green Skills and Applied AI launched on February 12 is the first of five Centres of Excellence to be established under the Green Skills and Applied AI for Climate Action programme.
Four more centres will be established across other states, including Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Meghalaya and Uttar Pradesh. In Bengaluru, the programme aims to skill one lakh students by 2030 for future jobs that require Green skills involving AI.
This centre will also provide internships for students and also handhold students if their idea of a start-up or projects are unique. A QR code is released for the students to register for the internships in the coming days.