Central Sanskrit University to Launch B.Tech in AI and Data Science from 2026-27

In a first for a Sanskrit university in India, the Central Sanskrit University has introduced a B.Tech programme in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, set to commence in the academic year 2026-27. This marks a significant step in integrating modern technical education with traditional knowledge systems.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his 'Mann ki Baat' address on Sunday, June 28, 2026, highlighted the programme as an effort to prepare youth for emerging technologies while keeping them connected to their cultural heritage. He noted that the initiative aligns with the National Education Policy 2020, which aims to transform Sanskrit institutions into multidisciplinary centres of learning.

The programme has received approval from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and offers a total of 66 seats, including 60 regular seats and six supernumerary seats. It is designed to produce graduates capable of developing AI-enabled tools for Sanskrit and other Indian languages, thereby strengthening language technologies.

The curriculum will enable digitisation and preservation of manuscripts and classical texts, as well as promote interdisciplinary research linking artificial intelligence with Indian Knowledge Systems. Applications include computational techniques for traditional domains such as Ayurveda, Yoga, Jyotisha, and Nyaya.

According to an official spokesperson from the Ministry of Education, the programme combines mainstream engineering education with India's linguistic and knowledge traditions, creating a new pathway for students from Sanskrit and traditional learning backgrounds to pursue modern technical education.

Technical components of the programme include Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, data science, Python programming, statistics, cloud computing, data analytics, and deep learning. The language and knowledge system components cover natural language processing, computational linguistics, machine translation, speech recognition, conversational AI, language technologies, knowledge representation, and optical character recognition for ancient manuscripts.

The introduction of this B.Tech programme represents a strategic effort to bridge the gap between India's ancient scholarly heritage and the demands of the modern technological world.