AI Compute portal launched: How much will access to cutting-edge GPUs cost in India?

Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday launched the IndiaAI compute portal, offering access to high-end Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) at rates as low as ₹67 per hour, in a bid to accelerate artificial intelligence (AI) innovation and research in the country.

The IndiaAI compute portal–designed to build a scalable AI computing ecosystem for the country’s rapidly growing AI startups and research community–will provide access to compute more than 18,000 GPUs, cloud storage and other AI services to students, startups, researchers, academia, and government departments.

The portal will facilitate easy access to high-end and mid-range GPUs such as NVIDIA H100, H200, A100, L40S, and L4, AMD MI300x and 325X, Intel Gaudi 2, AWS Tranium and Inferentia along with network and storage services. Eligible AI users will receive up to 40% subsidy on AI compute services on cloud.

"We have today a common compute facility for 14,000 GPUs, which is much more than what we had targeted. 10,000 GPUs is what we had targeted. We already have 14,000 GPUs now, with another 4,000 in the pipeline, and many more come in the upcoming quarters," the minister said at the anniversary celebration of the IndiaAI Mission.

The cost of using these GPUs is historically low at ₹67 per hour, he said, adding that it will offer a huge advantage to startups, application developers, researchers, and students.

Vaishnaw cited India's cost-efficient moon mission as a model for developing indigenous AI capabilities at a fraction of global costs.

"Our preparedness for India's own foundational model is progressing excellently well. We have got 67 applications for creating the foundational models," he said, adding that 22 of these applications are for Large Language Models (LLMs).

He said the government is holding and formalising extensive consultations with experts regarding the development of indigenous chipsets -- "something which will change the course of our country".

In the coming 3-4 years, India should have its own GPUs competing with the world and take a seat among the top five technology nations of the world, the minister asserted.

The ministry also launched AIKosha, a dataset platform providing compute, datasets, tools, and a secure sandbox environment for AI development. The platform will host high-quality datasets from multiple ministries, allowing model builders to develop India-specific AI applications.

In March 2024, the Union cabinet approved the IndiaAI mission with a budget outlay of ₹10,371.92 crore. The initiative, implemented by the IndiaAI Independent Business Division under Digital India Corporation, is intended to establish a comprehensive ecosystem catalysing AI innovation through public-private partnerships.

Vaishnaw informed that the government is setting up 27 India AI data labs in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.

He also shared that the government is training its officials and civil servants to improve their capacity and potential, through more than thousands of courses.

"More than a million civil servants have actually registered for the courses, and about 9 and a half lakh civil servants have already completed the course," he said.