Government scales up subsidized AI compute access for ministries and research bodies

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is preparing to significantly expand government departments’ access to subsidized AI computing hardware under the IndiaAI Mission, according to internal memoranda reviewed by Mint.

In a memorandum dated June 4, Meity asked all central ministries to project their future demand for graphics processing units (GPUs), the specialized chips used to train and run AI models. Ministries have in turn asked affiliated departments and institutions to submit their own estimates. Within the Department of Telecommunications, for instance, the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DoT) and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) have been asked to assess their compute needs; Meity’s own Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) have received similar requests.

Under the arrangement, described internally as Compute as a Service (CaaS), central and state government departments can access GPU capacity at a subsidy of up to 40%, alongside access to models and datasets on the Mission’s “AI Kosh” platform. Officials said Meity does not yet have a fixed budget or timeline for the expansion, though the finance ministry has allocated ₹1,000 crore for FY27 to support subsidies for government departments and research institutions. That is separate from the roughly ₹2,552 crore allocated across FY25 and FY26, of which ₹2,194 crore has been committed, and ₹973 crore actually spent, primarily on startup-facing grants and GPU subsidies.

Government access to subsidized compute is not new. According to a Lok Sabha reply from Meity dated March 25, 2026, government entities already accounted for the largest single category of the 190 projects approved under the Mission at that point, 78 projects, ahead of startups and MSMEs (46), early-stage startups (30), researchers and academia (27), students (5) and early-stage researchers (4). More than 38,000 GPUs have been onboarded to the Mission’s common compute facility to date.

Industry response has been broadly positive.

Currently, government entities seeking GPU access under the Mission need only a letter of authorization from a director, managing director or equivalent officer, a comparatively light eligibility requirement given the scale the expansion is expected to reach.

CT Bureau