Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman urges Indian startups to expand AI-driven technologies into districts, focusing on healthcare and banking, as part of a broader government strategy to enhance public service access and innovation in rural areas.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has urged India’s startup ecosystem to move beyond urban showcase projects and deliver technologies directly in districts, government hospitals and other public systems, arguing that innovation should be judged by real-world use rather than the amount of money raised. Speaking at the Rajasthan Yuva Conclave 2026 in Jaipur on Thursday, she said government backing should not stop at funding and policy support if a product can be put to work quickly in healthcare, banking or other public services.
At the event, Sitharaman pointed to an artificial intelligence tool used to screen children for developmental issues. According to the startup involved, the technology has been deployed at 30 primary health centres in Rajasthan and has already helped more than 1,500 families. The platform uses a three-minute video assessment to flag children who may need further evaluation. The startup says the aim is to make early screening easier for families outside major cities, where specialist assessment can be costly and slow.
The minister praised Rajasthan’s iStart programme for helping back the technology and for bringing it into the public health system, saying such tools should not remain confined to pilots. NeuroSense Labs, which says it has built India’s first multimodal AI screening platform for neurodevelopmental disorders, describes a system that combines facial, voice and motor signals and can be used by community health workers without specialist training. That wider context fits Sitharaman’s call for taking startup solutions into rural and tier-three areas, where access to expertise is often limited.
Sitharaman also used the conclave to underline the role of AI in finance. She highlighted Advarisk, a Rajasthan-based startup that says it works with more than 100 financial institutions to detect fraud and monitor loan exposure. The company says its software is designed to reduce credit costs and non-performing assets while widening access to loans for micro, small and medium enterprises and individuals. Separately, the government has been pushing broader AI adoption across sectors including healthcare, agriculture and education, while framing the technology as a way to boost productivity and create skilled jobs rather than displace workers. Sitharaman also encouraged self-help groups to look beyond traditional livelihoods and consider businesses such as warehousing and cold storage with bank support.
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