PUNE:
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Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani will share the stage with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar in Baramati on December 28 for the inauguration of the Sharadchandra Pawar Centre for Excellence in Artificial Intelligence. Adani has funded ₹25 crore for the centre for which Sharad Pawar had previously thanked him.
The event comes at a politically significant moment, with both factions of the NCP engaged in talks to explore a possible alliance for the upcoming civic elections in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad.
The centre has been set up under Vidya Pratishthan, the Baramati-based educational trust closely associated with the Pawar family. The trust’s board of trustees, which includes Ajit Pawar, NCP (SP) working president Supriya Sule, Sunetra Pawar and Yugendra Pawar, will also be present for the programme.
The presence of both Sharad Pawar and Ajit Pawar on the same stage alongside Gautam Adani is being closely watched in political circles, given the ongoing negotiations between the two NCP factions at the local level.
“We will all be present for the programme since we are all trustees at Vidya Pratishthan. Gautam Adani is also coming because he has funded the centre,” said Yogendra Pawar, nephew of Ajit Pawar and leader from Sharad Pawar-led NCP
The Sharadchandra Pawar Centre for Excellence in Artificial Intelligence is aimed at promoting advanced research, skill development and industry-oriented training in emerging technologies. According to those associated with the project, the centre will focus on artificial intelligence applications in areas such as agriculture, healthcare, governance and industry, with an emphasis on collaboration between academia and the private sector.
The Pawar family and the Adani family are known to share cordial relations. Gautam Adani has visited Baramati on several occasions in recent years, particularly during Diwali. Last year as well, Adani had shared the stage with members of the Pawar family in Baramati, an event that was attended by leaders cutting across party lines. On that occasion, MLA Rohit Pawar had received Adani at the airport.
Sharad Pawar had in December 2023 publicly acknowledged the Adani Group’s financial support to Vidya Pratishthan, thanking Gautam Adani for a contribution of ₹25 crore towards educational initiatives linked to the institution. The upcoming inauguration is expected to further underline the long-standing association between the two families, even as political realignments continue to unfold in Pune district and adjoining urban centres.
“We are in the process of constructing India’s first centre of excellence on Artificial Intelligence (AI) for which there is a need of ₹25 crore. Fortunately, our two colleagues agreed to help after I urged them,” Pawar had then said.
