Lokesh Seeks Sberbank’s GigaChat Rollout Across India

Andhra Pradesh Minister for Education, IT and Electronics, Nara Lokesh , met Albert Yefimov , Senior Vice President of Russia's state-owned Sberbank , in Moscow to discuss cooperation in artificial intelligence , digital security, technology education and cross-border trade.

Lokesh invited Sberbank to introduce its GigaChat large language model in India's banking, retail and public administration sectors. He also proposed integrating the bank's advanced voice recognition and biometric fraud-detection technologies into India's banking ecosystem to strengthen the security of UPI transactions.

The discussions covered opportunities under the Smart Cities Mission , including the use of predictive analytics , intelligent transit monitoring and digital safety solutions to improve urban management.

To support India's growing technology workforce, Lokesh urged Sberbank to establish its “School 21” coding academies in major educational hubs across the country. He also sought support for exporters in Visakhapatnam through rupee-ruble trade facilitation and structured financing for pharmaceutical and agricultural businesses.

Yefimov said Sberbank already provides India-Russia trade and corporate banking services through its offices in New Delhi and Mumbai, while its Bengaluru technology center supports cross-border trade solutions and rupee-ruble transactions. He added that the bank would review the proposals and explore potential areas of collaboration.

Based in Moscow, Sberbank is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving more than 110 million retail customers and 3.5 million corporate clients. The company has also built a significant presence in cloud computing and artificial intelligence alongside its banking operations.