Leading Tech Firms Eye India’s Rs 10,000 Crore GPU Tender for AI Mission
Leading global technology companies, including Nvidia, Intel, AMD, Qualcomm, Microsoft Azure, AWS, Google Cloud, and Palo Alto Networks, have expressed strong interest in India’s Rs 10,000 crore GPU procurement tender, a crucial element of the nation’s ambitious Artificial Intelligence (AI) Mission. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) reported an “exceptional” level of interest during a pre-bid meeting, leading the ministry to consider extending the bid submission deadline by two weeks to accommodate bidder clarifications.
During the meeting, approximately 500 suggestions were submitted, addressing concerns about the tender’s perceived bias towards larger corporations, particularly regarding teraFLOPS computing power requirements. MeitY Additional Secretary Abhishek Singh emphasized the RFE’s fairness, ensuring equal opportunities for both large and small players. Suggestions to create a separate category for startups and MSMEs and include low-range GPUs to cater to diverse needs were also discussed.
Yotta Data Services CEO Sunil Gupta praised the initiative, noting the significant investments required to build India’s AI ecosystem. Gupta highlighted Yotta’s purchase of 16,000 Nvidia H100 GPUs as an example, underscoring the empanelment framework’s potential to foster collaboration among AI ecosystem stakeholders, ultimately making GPU capacity more accessible and cost-effective in India.
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