Minister praises Bihar’s AI-driven innovations in governance & polls

Patna: The Bihar Pavilion at the India AI Impact Summit-2026, held at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, emerged as a major attraction, drawing interest from leading Indian states and international technology experts for its wide-ranging AI applications. The pavilion showcased Bihar’s expanding use of artificial intelligence across governance, elections, agriculture, healthcare, education and public services, positioning the state’s initiatives as both practical and scalable.

On the closing day of the summit on Saturday, Union minister for electronics and information technology Ashwini Vaishnaw visited the Bihar Pavilion and praised the State Election Commission of Bihar for its AI-enabled electoral innovations. He lauded secure e-voting solutions and citizen-centric mobile applications, describing technology-driven, transparent and secure elections as vital to strengthening democracy. He said Bihar’s digital initiatives reflected its commitment to good governance and participatory democratic processes.




According to an official of the state’s information technology (IT) department, State Election Commission officials explained how AI is being deployed to ensure transparency and fairness in panchayat and urban local body elections. The applications include AI-assisted vote counting, real-time public access to election information, and surveillance systems to monitor security and detect discrepancies at polling stations.

AI’s broader role in Bihar’s development was highlighted by Mahesh, a Bihar native from Naugachhia now based in California, who attended the summit. The Bihar govt recently signed a memorandum of understanding with his firm, Tiger Analytics. Mahesh said AI would significantly transform Bihar, especially in agriculture, health and education.

In agriculture, Bihar is moving towards “smart farming”, where AI functions as a digital adviser. Using sensors and satellite data, farmers can monitor soil health and crop conditions in real time. AI-enabled applications such as Kisan e-Mitra can help detect crop diseases through images, suggest remedies, provide accurate weather forecasts and predict market prices, the IT official said.

In healthcare, AI is enabling faster diagnosis and doorstep treatment. X-rays and CT scans can be analysed within seconds to detect diseases such as tuberculosis and lung cancer. AI-powered stethoscopes and thermal imaging are also supporting early detection of heart disease and breast cancer in rural areas, the official said.

In education, AI-driven personalised learning is gaining ground. Another participant, Deepak, said more than 10,000 students from Bihar’s engineering colleges and polytechnic institutes would be trained in AI and offered internships, preparing them for AI applications in key sectors.

A multilingual robot showcased at the pavilion emerged as a crowd-puller. Capable of conversing in multiple languages, it can function as a receptionist at public places such as railway stations, airports and hotels. The pavilion also displayed AI solutions for cleaning garbage and large drains without human intervention, the IT department said.