Meity seeks 10K graphics processing units, receives offer for 20K

The Ministry of Electronics and Information and Technology (Meity) has received offers for 20,000 graphics processing units (GPUs) from companies that bid under the ~10,370 crore IndiaAI Mission — nearly double of what it is seeking through a request for empanelling companies.

 

Its request, to build artificial-intelligence (AI) computing capacity, came on August 16 last year. A senior official in Meity said: “We were looking at 10,000 GPUs ... but we have received offers for over 20,000. We are evaluating them, and after that we will take a call, which will take some time. There is enthusiasm among companies.” 

 

The aim is to create affordable AI infrastructure, which will support startups, academics, and research agencies, among others. As many as 28 companies have shown an interest in this and 19 bid for empanelment, which is for 36 months and can be extended by another 12. 

On the other hand, many Indian firms that have bid or shown an interest have tied up with American giant Nvidia, or have some understanding with it, to procure GPUs. The firm faces big demand from across the world. In India, for instance, Raheja-controlled Yotto Infrastructure has an agreement with the company to source 16,000 GPUs, of which the first lot of 4,000 was delivered a few months ago and is in use. The company says it is expecting to get the rest soon, adding, it has a visibility of another 32,000. 

The other big players that have tied up with Nvidia include Reliance Industries, which has jointly announced building AI computing infrastructure in the country. It is reportedly going to provide the company Blackwell AI processors to build its large-scale data centre in Jamnagar. 

This apart, the Tata group, E2E and Olas Kruttim have also got into various tieups and agreements to source GPUs. Tata Communications is powering its AI cloud infrastructure with Nvidia Hopper GPUs. It has also tied up with the company. And E2E has announced it is the first to bring in Nvidia H200 Tensor Core GPUs to the Indian market. 

The other firms that have bid include Sify Digital Services, Orient Technologies, and CMS Computers NxtGen.