Global tech leaders eye Rs 10,000 cr AI tender as India expands AI mission

The exceptional participation has prompted the government to extend the deadline to accommodate the overwhelming response and industry suggestions

Leading technology companies, including Nvidia, Intel, AMD, Qualcomm, Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, and Palo Alto Networks, have shown significant interest in the Indian government's Rs 10,000 crore tender for procuring graphics processing units (GPUs). This tender is a key part of India’s ambitious Artificial Intelligence (AI) Mission, reported The Economic Times.

At a pre-bid meeting held on Thursday, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) described the level of interest as “exceptional.” The ministry plans to extend the deadline for bid submissions by two weeks, following the release of clarifications to the bidders.

MeitY Additional Secretary Abhishek Singh mentioned that the meeting generated around 500 suggestions regarding the tender. Representatives from other major companies, such as Yotta, L&T, E2E, Tata Communications, and Vigyanlabs, were also present.

 

To qualify for bidding under the Request for Empanelment (RFE) guidelines, companies must either present a purchase order for 1,000 GPUs or prove they have a stock of 1,000 GPUs. Several international GPU manufacturers, cloud service providers, and data centre operators raised concerns during the meeting, leading MeitY to consider extending the current September 6 deadline to address these issues.

Singh noted the high level of enthusiasm for the India AI Mission, adding that the ministry received a substantial response to the RFE. As is customary with government tenders, companies will have two weeks from the publication date of clarifications to submit their bids. The deadline for submitting suggestions is Saturday, August 31, at 5 pm.

One of the main concerns discussed was the RFE’s perceived favouritism towards larger corporations, especially regarding the teraFLOPS computing power specifications (one teraFLOPS equals one trillion floating-point operations per second). Singh emphasised that the RFE is fair to both large and small players, ensuring equal opportunities.

Suggestions were also made to create a separate category for startups and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) without prior experience, allowing them to participate in the tender. Participants also recommended including low-range GPUs, suitable for smaller workloads, under the India AI Mission to cater to diverse needs.

According to the RFE’s scoring criteria, companies with an average annual turnover of Rs 100 crore to Rs 150 crore over the last three years will receive five marks. Companies with a turnover of Rs 150 crore to Rs 200 crore will receive 15 marks, while those with a turnover of Rs 200 crore or more will receive 25 marks. Some attendees suggested that smaller companies might need to collaborate to meet these financial requirements.

Singh explained that these financial requirements align with General Financial Rules, ensuring that only companies with sufficient financial strength and capability can take on such complex projects.

Sunil Gupta, CEO of Yotta Data Services, praised the RFE, calling it a visionary step for AI/GPU cloud service providers.

Gupta pointed out Yotta’s recent purchase of 16,000 Nvidia H100 GPUs, with 4,000 already operational, as an example of the significant investment required to build India’s AI ecosystem.

He also highlighted that the empanelment framework aims to encourage collaboration among various stakeholders in the AI ecosystem, including data centres, cloud providers, managed service providers, and system integrators.

“ This will help grow the AI ecosystem in India by making GPU capacity available in India in a cost-effective manner,” Gupta added.a