The MoU was signed during a virtual ceremony attended by Vivek Aggarwal, Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, and Amit Sood, Vice President and Founder of Google Arts & Culture.

The partnership aims to showcase the diverse civilisational heritage of India, including monuments and archaeological sites protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), collections housed in national museums, manuscripts being documented under the Gyan Bharatam initiative, and the country's traditional crafts, performing arts and living cultural traditions.

A key focus of the collaboration will be the upcoming Yuge Yugeen Bharat Museum, which is being developed in the North and South Blocks of New Delhi. Envisioned as a museum tracing India's history across different ages, the project will use digital technologies to document its historic buildings and the extensive collection of artefacts that will be housed there.

The digitisation initiative will create a lasting digital record of the museum's architectural heritage and collections while offering the public an early glimpse of one of India's major cultural projects.

The MoU is part of the Ministry of Culture's broader efforts to improve accessibility and expand its digital initiatives, enabling people across the country and around the world to explore India's heritage in Indian languages and on different digital devices.

The collaboration reflects a comprehensive approach towards heritage preservation, public access and the growth of India's creative economy, bringing together cultural institutions of different scales and partners from various sectors.

Commenting on the partnership, Vivek Aggarwal, Secretary, Ministry of Culture, said, “India’s cultural heritage is a living inheritance. It belongs to every citizen and speaks to the whole world. Our partnership with Google Arts & Culture brings technology to bear on documenting, preserving and sharing that inheritance, from our ancient manuscripts and monuments to the collections of our national museums and the upcoming Yuge Yugeen Bharat Museum. By making these treasures available in Indian languages and to audiences across the globe, we hope to bring more people closer to the story of Indian civilisation, and to safeguard it for generations to come.”

Google Arts & Culture has maintained a longstanding association with several institutions under the Ministry of Culture, including the Archaeological Survey of India, the National Museum and the National Gallery of Modern Art. The platform has helped bring their collections to wider audiences over the years.

Amit Sood, Vice President and Founder of Google Arts & Culture, said, “For the past 15 years, Google Arts & Culture has been deeply inspired by India’s millennia of storytelling, artistic mastery and vast heritage. Our partnership with the Ministry of Culture represents a shared commitment to preserve India’s timeless treasures with the help of cutting-edge technologies. Whether supporting the vision for the Yuge Yugeen Bharat Museum or preserving historic manuscripts, we are honoured to deploy our technologies to bridge ancient heritage with modern accessibility, making these collections freely discoverable to educate, inspire, and delight curious minds everywhere.”