Gyan Bharatam is a flagship initiative of the Ministry of Culture to identify, preserve, digitise and promote India’s manuscript heritage. Announced in the Union Budget 2025-26, it aligns with the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047 and seeks to combine cultural conservation with knowledge access, research and capacity building. The Standing Finance Committee has approved Rs. 491.66 crore for 2025-2031 for the programme.
Objective and Scope
Gyan Bharatam aims to safeguard India’s vast manuscript collections and make them accessible for study and public use. The initiative covers survey, cataloguing, conservation, digitisation, translation, research and outreach. It also seeks to strengthen institutions involved in manuscript preservation across the country.
Implementation Framework
The programme will operate through a nationwide network of Cluster Centres and Independent Centres. So far, 45 centres have been onboarded for implementation. In addition, 20 States and Union Territories have been onboarded as nodal coordinating authorities for state-level execution. A preservation and conservation manual has been prepared and shared for expert feedback. A survey application has also been developed for stakeholder review.
Digitisation and Technical Standards
More than 7.5 lakh manuscripts have already been digitised under the initiative, and 1.29 lakh are available on the Gyan Bharatam portal. The digitisation process follows strict technical norms, including:
- Minimum 400 DPI scanning and 24-bit colour output.
- Use of non-destructive overhead scanners with cold light.
- Master files in TIFF format and access copies in JPEG.
- Searchable PDF/A copies with watermark protection.
- Long-term storage through LTO-9 tapes and cloud backup.
Metadata, Technology and Access
The initiative uses detailed metadata standards covering descriptive, structural, technical and administrative information. Metadata is being supplied in CSV and XML formats with each batch. Technical partners have been engaged for metadata creation, integration with the National Digital Repository, scanner deployment, AI-enabled digital platform development, mobile application support, and secure storage and disaster recovery systems. The programme is designed to improve global accessibility to India’s manuscript knowledge base.
Last Modified: April 27, 2026