The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has assigned AI workloads to the lowest bidders in its GPU tender, aiming to bolster India’s AI infrastructure and innovation.
1. GPU Infrastructure Expansion
To support AI development, MeitY has initiated the procurement of 10,000 GPUs. Companies like Reliance Jio, NxtGen, E2E Networks, CtrlS, and Locuz have been selected as the lowest bidders (L1) to supply these GPUs. Notably, these firms have collectively offered 14,517 GPUs at competitive rates, exceeding the initial requirement.
To ensure continuous growth, MeitY has introduced a rolling empanelment process. This allows new vendors to join by matching or offering better GPU rates, thereby enhancing India’s AI compute capacity.
2. Support for Indigenous AI Startups
MeitY is backing homegrown AI startups such as Sarvam AI, Soket AI Labs, Gnani.ai, and Gan.ai. These companies are tasked with developing Indian-centric AI models. For instance, Soket AI Labs plans to build a 120-billion parameter open-source Indic large language model (LLM) within 12 months, with smaller models expected in six months.
3. Affordable AI Compute Access
To democratize AI access, the government has subsidized GPU usage costs. With a 40% subsidy, the cost of computing AI models is reduced to less than ₹100 per hour. This initiative aims to make AI resources more accessible to startups, researchers, and students.
4. Global AI Collaboration
Beyond domestic objectives, India seeks to promote AI deployment across the Global South. MeitY Secretary S. Krishnan emphasized India’s intent to lead in AI adoption and ensure that emerging technologies benefit developing nations.
