IndiaAI Mission: Government to launch GPU access portal soon
What's the story
The Indian government will announce the successful bidder for acquiring graphics processing units (GPUs) under the IndiaAI Mission this week, according to Moneycontrol.
The government is also on the brink of launching a portal that would give start-ups and researchers access to GPUs.
This portal will allow access to necessary GPUs required for training AI models at a fraction of the cost.
The move comes as part of the IndiaAI Mission, which was announced in March 2024.
Bidding details
Major firms participate in bidding
The bidding process was held on January 22, with results due by the end of this week.
Ten firms including Jio Platforms, Tata Communications, E2E Networks Limited, and Yotta Data Services Limited took part in the bidding process to procure 10,000 GPUs under IndiaAI Mission.
The initiative is part of a broader plan where 44% or ₹4,563.36 crore of the ₹10,371.92 crore IndiaAI Mission budget has been set aside for providing compute capacity of over 10,000 GPUs over five years.
Procurement strategy
MeitY's approach to GPU procurement promotes accessibility
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has taken a novel route to procure GPUs in bulk, steering clear of traditional viability gap funding that could have ruled out existing GPU capacity providers.
This way, both established players and new entrants can bid, ensuring maximum utilization of available infrastructure.
The ministry is also open to subsidizing GPU usage for certain requirements like research and innovation, further promoting accessibility.