OpenAI to train India’s civil servants in AI through Karmayogi Bharat tie-up

Karmayogi Bharat, which runs the government’s online learning platform for civil servants, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with OpenAI to bring the ChatGPT maker’s AI training courses to government employees.

Under the agreement, announced on Tuesday, OpenAI will provide approved content from OpenAI Academy, the firm’s learning programme, for the iGOT Karmayogi platform. Karmayogi Bharat will manage access and learner engagement and coordinate with the relevant government departments. The courses will be available to eligible government personnel on the platform.

“As technology reshapes governance, civil servants need practical skills they can apply directly in their day-to-day work. By bringing OpenAI Academy resources to iGOT Karmayogi, we aim to help government personnel engage with AI confidently, use it responsibly, and translate new capabilities into better public outcomes,” said Chhavi Bhardwaj, chief executive, Karmayogi Bharat.


Karmayogi Bharat is a not-for-profit government company under the Department of Personnel and Training. It runs iGOT Karmayogi as part of Mission Karmayogi, the government’s skilling programme for civil servants, where officials can take courses.

According to OpenAI, the size of the platform’s user base is what makes it suited to teaching AI skills across government. “With more than 1.7 crore government employees across the Centre, states and Union Territories registered on iGOT Karmayogi, the platform offers a powerful way to build practical AI capability at scale,” said Pragya Misra, head of strategy and government affairs, OpenAI India.

Misra added that India’s AI opportunity “will depend not just on access to technology, but on how effectively people and institutions use it.”

The partnership comes as government departments in India look for ways to use AI in everyday administrative work and in delivering public services. Bhardwaj said the collaboration would help keep capacity building “relevant to the evolving needs of the government” and support Mission Karmayogi's vision of a future-ready civil service.

However, how many courses will be offered, when they will go live, whether the content will be available in Indian languages is yet to be determined.