OpenAI has announced a new phase of its AI for Impact Accelerator Program in India, providing technical grants worth INR 1.28 Crore (USD 150,000) across 11 nonprofit organisations. These grants, delivered as API credits, will support AI solutions in sectors such as education, healthcare, agriculture, disability inclusion, and gender equity.
The initiative, now operating under the OpenAI Academy umbrella, was launched globally and continues to support mission-driven organisations developing real-world applications of AI. The India cohort includes groups that have integrated OpenAI tools into their platforms to serve underserved communities at scale.
The program is delivered in partnership with The Agency Fund, Tech4Dev, and Turn.io. In addition to funding, the program provides technical support, early access to tools, and cohort-based learning. A recent workshop on advanced model capabilities was also held to support social impact applications.
“India has shown how AI can drive inclusive innovation at scale,” said Pragya Misra, Policy & Partnerships Lead at OpenAI India. “These organisations are solving some of the country’s most complex challenges with ingenuity and empathy. The AI for Impact Accelerator — now part of OpenAI Academy — is our way of learning from them, while ensuring frontier technology is being shaped by and in service of real communities.”
The supported organisations include Rocket Learning, Noora Health, Educate Girls, i-Stem, Pinky Promise, Myna Mahila Foundation, Udhyam, Precision Development, Digital Green, Youth Impact, and IDinsight.
OpenAI claims that the program supports the goals of the India AI Mission by helping to democratise AI access, develop local ecosystems, and build scalable, localised solutions.
Moreover, India now leads globally in ChatGPT usage, accounting for 13.5% of monthly active users. It surpasses the US at 8.9% and Indonesia at 5.7%, according to Mary Meeker’s AI Trends Report. India also ranks third in DeepSeek app usage, behind China and Russia.
OpenAI is reportedly looking to set up a data centre in India. The company also announced that organisations using its APIs, ChatGPT Enterprise, and ChatGPT Edu will be able to store customer content within India.
This data residency option extends to other Asian countries, including Japan, Singapore, and South Korea, allowing local data storage while using OpenAI products.
According to a Bloomberg report, OpenAI is targeting the Asia-Pacific region to build new data centres. Company officials are likely to tour the region to explore opportunities around AI infrastructure and software usage.