In Short:
The Indian government plans to set up artificial intelligence computing units in all ministries with a budget of nearly Rs 10,000 crores. They aim to procure 10,000 GPUs, costing around Rs 5000 crores, through domestic data center companies. The plan includes subsidizing GPUs for Indian startups and research institutes. Global GPU makers, such as Nvidia, are being approached for the procurement. Setting up AI compute infrastructure has become crucial for countries worldwide.
Government to set up AI Computing Units in Ministries
The Centre is planning to establish artificial intelligence computing assessment and curation units in all ministries and their respective departments as part of a nearly Rs 10,000-crore plan. This initiative comes after assessing their high-end computing needs and resource requirements, according to official sources.
Allocation of GPUs
Based on the details provided by each ministry, the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) will decide on the number of GPUs to be allotted, a source revealed. GPUs are considered a scarce resource, so ministries with lower computing requirements may need to share them with others on a fragmented or distributed basis.
India AI Mission Details
Under the Rs 10,372-crore India AI mission, the IT ministry aims to establish a computing capacity of 10,000 or more GPUs. The distribution of these GPUs will be managed through domestic data centre companies in a fair and equitable manner.
Cost Details
The total cost of procuring these GPUs is estimated to be up to Rs 5000 crore. Abhishek Singh, additional secretary to the ministry of electronics and IT, mentioned this during the Global India AI Summit. The government is also exploring a viability gap funding model for this initiative.
Global Partnerships
The IT ministry is in discussions with global GPU makers like Nvidia to source high-end computing units for Indian startups, academics, research institutes, and companies at subsidized rates. Countries worldwide are investing heavily in AI compute infrastructure, with China and the US being notable examples.
Industry Adoption
Indian companies such as the Reliance Group, the Tata Group, and Yotta Infrastructure have already entered deals with Nvidia to bring GPUs to domestic companies. Yotta, for instance, is importing 24,000 GPUs, including Nvidia H100s and L40S, in phases, with the first batch arriving in March.
The availability of Nvidia’s H100 chips has improved in recent months, with a wait period of 6-8 weeks compared to the previous scarcity. The goal is to ensure efficient utilization of these GPUs for various purposes.
With Nvidia being one of the primary GPU manufacturers, its market value has risen to $2.16 trillion, making it the third most valuable company globally after Microsoft and Apple.
