Kerala Becomes First Indian State With a Dedicated AI Cabinet Portfolio
Kerala has become the first Indian state to create a dedicated Artificial Intelligence portfolio at the cabinet level. The portfolio has been assigned to P. K. Kunhalikutty and placed under the Industries and Commerce Department alongside IT, startups and industrial development.
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Kerala Becomes First Indian State With a Dedicated AI Cabinet Portfolio
News flash. Kerala has become the first Indian state to formally create an Artificial Intelligence (AI) portfolio at the cabinet level. The portfolio has been assigned to P. K. Kunhalikutty and placed under the Industries and Commerce Department, alongside Information Technology, Startups and Industrial Development. The reshuffle was notified by the Kerala Raj Bhavan on 23 May 2026.
In a first-of-its-kind move for any Indian state, the Government of Kerala has carved out Artificial Intelligence as a stand-alone cabinet portfolio. The notification — issued under Article 166 by Raj Bhavan, Thiruvananthapuram on 23 May 2026 — re-allocates the AI portfolio to Cabinet Minister P. K. Kunhalikutty, who already holds Industries and Commerce.
The portfolio bundles AI with IT, startups and industrial development, signalling that the state intends to treat AI not as a standalone academic agenda but as an industrial-policy lever. Kerala’s move puts it ahead of larger states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, which all run AI missions but have not yet elevated AI to a cabinet portfolio.
Key highlights
- State: Kerala (first in India)
- Portfolio: Artificial Intelligence (stand-alone, cabinet level)
- Minister: P. K. Kunhalikutty
- Anchoring department: Industries and Commerce (with IT, Startups, Industrial Development)
- Notified by: Raj Bhavan, Thiruvananthapuram on 23 May 2026
Why this update matters
For the last 18 months, the Government of India’s IndiaAI mission has been the principal AI policy vehicle at the national level, with ₹10,371 crore committed under the Cabinet-approved IndiaAI programme. State governments have so far run AI initiatives inside their existing IT or Electronics departments — Karnataka’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, Telangana’s AI Mission within IT-E&C, Tamil Nadu’s eGovernance AI cell.
Kerala’s decision to create a dedicated cabinet portfolio is structurally different in three ways:
- Accountability: A named cabinet minister owns AI policy, budget and execution — not a sub-secretary inside IT.
- Industrial-policy mandate: Bundling AI with Industries and Startups signals that the focus is firm-level adoption (manufacturing, tourism, healthcare, plantations), not just R&D.
- State-level data and procurement: The portfolio is expected to draft a Kerala-specific AI procurement and data-governance framework, an area where the IndiaAI mission has only national-level guidelines.
Action required. For Kerala-based startups, SaaS firms and integrators — track the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) and K-DISC for upcoming RFPs and pilot programmes under the new AI portfolio. For employees of Kerala state PSUs — expect AI-skilling notifications in the next 90 days, likely routed through ICFOSS and KKEM.
What the AI portfolio is likely to cover
While the detailed charter is still being drawn up by the General Administration Department, public statements by the Chief Minister and Minister suggest the AI portfolio will house:
| Workstream | Anchor body | Expected scope |
|---|---|---|
| AI policy & ethics | Kerala Development & Innovation Strategic Council (K-DISC) | State-level AI use-case framework, ethics guidelines |
| AI in governance | Kerala State IT Mission (KSITM) | Citizen-services chatbots, fraud detection in welfare schemes |
| AI for industry | KSIDC + KSUM | Compute-credits for startups, sector pilots (rubber, coir, tourism, healthcare) |
| AI skilling | ICFOSS + ASAP Kerala | 1 lakh AI-trained youth target over 24 months |
| Compute & data | C-DAC Thiruvananthapuram | GPU cluster access, Malayalam datasets |
How does this compare with other states?
| State | AI structure as of May 2026 | Cabinet-level AI portfolio? |
|---|---|---|
| Kerala | Dedicated AI portfolio under Industries + IT + Startups | Yes |
| Karnataka | KCDL + AI Centre of Excellence, under IT-BT | No (under IT-BT minister) |
| Telangana | Telangana AI Mission + RICH, under IT-E&C | No (under IT-E&C minister) |
| Tamil Nadu | AI Governance Council under eGov + ELCOT | No (under IT minister) |
| Maharashtra | MahaAI under MeitY-IT Department | No (under IT minister) |
| Gujarat | iCreate AI vertical under Industries | No (under Industries minister) |
Timeline of events
Important Dates
- March 2024 — IndiaAI mission approved by Union Cabinet (₹10,371 crore).
- December 2025 — Kerala Cabinet first discusses an AI strategy paper from K-DISC.
- April 2026 — Kerala AI Skilling Roadmap drafted by ICFOSS and ASAP Kerala.
- 23 May 2026 — Dedicated AI portfolio formally notified; assigned to P. K. Kunhalikutty.
- Next 90 days (expected) — Kerala State AI Policy draft + RFP for state-AI compute partner.
What happens next
The first deliverable expected from the new portfolio is the draft Kerala State AI Policy, which insiders say will be released for public consultation by August 2026. A parallel state procurement RFP for an AI compute partner — to host LLM workloads for citizen-facing chatbots — is also in the works. Watch the Kerala IT Mission (itmission.kerala.gov.in) and K-DISC (kdisc.kerala.gov.in) websites.
Frequently asked questions
1. Is Kerala really the first Indian state with a dedicated AI cabinet portfolio?
2. Which minister holds Kerala's AI portfolio?
3. How is this different from the IndiaAI mission?
4. What benefits does this bring to Kerala-based startups?
5. When will the Kerala AI Policy be released?
6. Will the AI portfolio affect existing IT department schemes?
Official references
Disclaimer. SarkariBaba is an independent information publisher and not affiliated with the Government of Kerala. This article reflects the Raj Bhavan portfolio notification dated 23 May 2026 and publicly available statements by the Chief Minister’s Office. Always verify on the official Kerala Government Gazette before quoting.
