India, June 25 -- The central government may end up acquiring a 1-2% stake in AI unicorn Sarvam once its $300 Mn funding round is closed.

According to an ET report, the acquisition pertains to compute infrastructure provided by the government to Sarvam as part of the IndiaAI Mission. The government had received compulsorily convertible debentures (CCDs) in return for the compute infrastructure. These CCDs are now set to convert into equity holdings, translating to a minority stake in the AI startup.

"The Centre will be taking a small stake in Sarvam. The support provided to companies under the IndiaAI Mission needs to be accounted for in some form, if not cash," an anonymous government official was quoted as saying.

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