Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, launched the AI Compute Portal in New Delhi on Thursday. The platform is designed to provide researchers, startups, and government agencies with access to high-powered computing resources, including advanced Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), for artificial intelligence (AI) applications.
At the launch, Vaishnaw announced that the government is in the process of establishing 27 AI data laboratories. He also stated that applications for developing foundational AI models had been received and are currently under review.
With the approval of the IndiaAI Mission in 2024, the government has allocated ₹10,300 crore billion over five years to enhance AI capabilities. A key part of this initiative is a shared computing facility with 18,693 GPUs, making it one of the largest AI compute infrastructures globally. This capacity is nearly nine times that of the open-source AI model DeepSeek and approximately two-thirds of the computing power used by ChatGPT.
The initial rollout has made 10,000 GPUs available, with further expansions expected. The infrastructure aims to support the development of AI solutions tailored to India’s diverse linguistic and cultural landscape.
India has also introduced an open GPU marketplace to provide equitable access to high-performance computing resources. Unlike in some countries where AI infrastructure is dominated by major corporations, this initiative aims to make resources available to a wider range of users, including startups and researchers.
To ensure a stable supply chain, the government has engaged 10 companies to provide GPUs. Additionally, plans are in place to develop an indigenous GPU within the next three to five years, reducing dependency on imported technology.
The Ministry of Electronics and IT has stated that the new common computing facility will offer GPU access at a subsidised rate of £1 per hour, significantly lower than the global cost of £2 to £2.40 per hour.
In parallel, India is expanding its semiconductor manufacturing sector, with five semiconductor plants currently under construction. These efforts are expected to support AI development while also contributing to India’s electronics industry.
