India-made GPUs to be tech demo-ready by 2025, production by 2029

Under the Rs 10,372 crore IndiaAI Mission, the Centre plans to demonstrate indigenous GPU capability this year and aims for market readiness and scale-up by 2029

The first made-in-India graphics processing units, or GPUs, are expected to be ready for technology demonstrations by the end of this year, according to government officials familiar with the matter.

 

These demonstrations will help the government assess the technical readiness and commercial viability of the home-grown GPUs, senior officials said.

 

They are expected to be production-ready by 2029, an official said.

 

The upcoming trials are meant to showcase the capabilities of India-made GPUs beyond routine rendering and loading of graphics. These include pushing the limits of the processors on high-performance tasks, such as complex mathematical operations, parallel processing of data using artificial intelligence, advanced machine learning, and scientific simulations.

 

Depending on the specific requirements of the processors, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology may start reaching out to global chip makers and designers later this year, another official said. “By 2030, we will be ready for scaling up. By then, our made-in-India chips will also be on the market,” the official added.

 

In March, Union Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the government would be developing an indigenous GPU over the next three to four years.

 

“We are talking to experts on developing our chipsets,” the minister said at the time. 

 

India-made GPUs are being developed under the ~10,372 crore IndiaAI Mission. So far, 10 companies have submitted bids to procure and supply 18,693 GPUs -- far exceeding the initial target of 10,000 units. They have been asked to supply 12,896 Nvidia H100 GPUs, 1,480 Nvidia H200 GPUs, and models such as the MI325 and MI300X.

 

In the second phase, several global players, through their Indian partners, have proposed supplying an additional 15,000 to 18,000 GPUs, the sources said.

 

Following the first round of bidding, the ministry introduced a continuous empanelment process for vendors interested in supplying GPUs, with new applications accepted quarterly.

 

Among the selected suppliers in the initial round were Jio Platforms, Tata Communications, and Yotta Data Services, which is part of the Hiranandani Group. Other shortlisted firms included CMS Computers India, Ctrls Datacentres, E2E Networks, and Locuz Enterprise Solutions.

 

The bids from these companies yielded an average AI compute unit cost of approximately ~115.85 per GPU hour for standard units and ~150 per hour for high-performance units. This compares to a global benchmark of $2.50-3.00 per GPU hour.

 

To make GPU access more affordable, the government is offering a 40 per cent discount to startups, researchers, academic institutions, and students. Additional discounts will be available to users who commit to six-month or year-long usage contracts. These incentives will be in effect for the next four years, officials said.