The IndiaAI GPU procurement makes progress

Under the IndiaAI Mission, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has assigned artificial intelligence (AI) workloads to the lowest bidders (L1) in its landmark GPU procurement tender. This initiative is part of a broader effort to build India’s AI compute infrastructure by making high-performance GPUs available to startups, academia, and public sector entities at subsidized rates.

The IndiaAI Mission aims to deploy close to 15,000 GPUs in its first phase, with commitments received for 18,693 GPUs against a target of 10,000. The government has allocated ₹10,000 crore for the mission, with a second round planned to procure an additional 15,000 GPUs. The GPUs offered include various models such as Intel Gaudi 2, AMD MI300X, NVIDIA H100, H200, A100, L40S, L4, AWS Inferentia2, and Tranium.

The main L1 bidders assigned AI workloads are:

• Yotta Data Services: 9,216 GPUs;
• E2E Networks: 1,353 GPUs; and
• NxtGen Datacenter & Cloud Technologies: 1,088 GPUs.

Other L1 bidders in specific GPU categories include Reliance Jio, Locuz Enterprise Solutions, and CtrlS Datacenters. Only the service providers who have procured the GPUs and integrated with the AI Compute Portal are eligible to receive workloads. As of late April 2025, Yotta, E2E, and NxtGen are the first to have completed this integration.

The L1 bidder in each GPU compute category is the preferred service provider. All AI workload requests are directed to the L1 bidder until their capacity is exhausted. Once L1 capacity is filled, requests are assigned to the next lowest bidders (L2, L3, L4, L5) using a round-robin method until all empanelled agencies reach capacity. Ten companies, in addition to the L have been empanelled as eligible GPU providers, including Tata Communications, CMS Computers, Orient Technologies, and Vensysco Technologies.

Startups, academic institutions, and other approved entities must register through the AI Compute Portal to apply for GPU resources. The subsidized GPU usage rate is reportedly less than $1 per hour, among the lowest globally. The government also provides computing resources and financial support to encourage the development of local language models and AI research.

Service providers must make GPU access available by August 2025, within six months of receiving their letter of intent (February 7, 2025). The onboarding and integration of additional bidders will continue, with quarterly refreshes of the empanelled list and a second procurement round underway.

The IndiaAI GPU tender marks a significant step in democratizing AI compute access in India. Having integrated with the government’s AI Compute Portal, the lowest bidders are now receiving AI workloads and will provide subsidized GPU access to the country’s research and innovation ecosystem. As the program scales, additional rounds and bidders are expected to expand India’s AI capabilities further.

Key L1 bidders and GPU commitments

CT Bureau