IndiaAI's 10,000-GPU tender opens: C-DAC starts technical bids for AI compute

C-DAC opened technical bids for the IndiaAI Mission's tender to empanel providers of up to 10,000 AI compute units.

India's push to put more AI compute in the hands of startups, researchers and government departments reached a key milestone on Friday, as C-DAC opened technical bids for the IndiaAI Mission's 10,000-GPU tender.

The request for empanelment, published on October 7, closed for submissions on the Central Public Procurement Portal on October 29. It follows the IT minister's announcement that the government would add 10,000 more GPUs to the mission's shared compute pool.

C-DAC, the implementing agency for the mission's compute pillar, wants providers that can deliver end-to-end AI compute — GPUs, TPUs and other accelerators — for five years, with names like NVIDIA's H100 and H200 among the expected hardware. More than 38,000 GPUs are already on the platform from earlier rounds.