India Finalizes Tender for 1,000 GPUS

In August 2024, the Indian government finalized a tender to procure 1,000 graphics processing units (GPUs), marking the first phase of the Rs 10,370 crore IndiaAI Mission aimed at boosting AI infrastructure for Indian start-ups, researchers, and public sector agencies.

Key Points

Tender Details: The government has finalized a tender document for acquiring 1,000 GPUs, a fraction of the total 10,000 GPUs planned under the IndiaAI Mission.
Mission Scope: The IndiaAI Mission, with an investment of Rs 10,370 crore, aims to create a robust AI infrastructure with over 10,000 GPUs.
It will also focus on developing AI models with more than 100 billion parameters, addressing sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, and governance.
Importance of Compute: Computing capacity is crucial for building large AI systems, alongside algorithmic innovation and data.
Eligibility and Requirements: Bidders must be Indian entities, with consortia allowed up to three partners.
The primary partner must have an average annual turnover of over Rs 100 crore for the past three years.
All AI services must be provided from data centers within India, ensuring data localization.
Data Localization: A key requirement is that all data uploaded to the AI cloud platform must remain within India's sovereign territory, with no data transmitted outside the country in any form.
Service Availability: Successful bidders must provide immediate AI compute capacity for up to 100 hours, up to 500 hours within two days, and more than 500 hours within a week, ensuring adequate support for AI development needs.