GPU shortage, not lack of funds or talent, choking India’s AI dreams: Raghav Chadha raises concerns in RS

New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party MP Raghav Chadha highlighted the critical bottleneck hindering India’s ambitions in Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, stressing that the primary constraint is not funding, capital, or talent but the availability of computational resources, particularly Graphics Processing Units or GPUs.

Chadha pointed out that rising GPU costs and global supply chain disruptions are severely limiting India’s data centre expansion and efforts to train advanced AI models.

He noted that India’s current pool of GPUs stands at approximately 34,000, a figure he described as very small compared to the scale required globally for developing cutting-edge AI systems.

Through the Chair, he sought specific details from the Minister of State for Science and Technology on the targets, timelines, and geopolitical engagements initiated by the government to ensure predictable and secure access to these vital computational resources.

In his response, Minister of State for Science and Technology (independent charge) Jitendra Singh acknowledged the concern as widely recognised, stating that GPUs form the core of AI development and related activities.

He explained that under the IndiaAI Mission, compute has been designated as a dedicated vertical or pillar due to its paramount importance. This pillar provides access to high-end computing services through empanelled providers, offering eligible users discounts of up to 40 per cent on costs.

For larger models requiring substantial compute, such as those with 30 billion or 65 billion parameters, access is also being facilitated from additional sources.

Singh affirmed that the government remains fully aware of the challenges and is actively addressing them. He highlighted a key initiative where the private sector has been opened up to encourage investments from non-governmental entities.

The minister mentioned that only the previous day, the first call for proposals under this approach had been launched to catalyse private projects.

The minister expressed confidence that these steps, combined with ongoing efforts, would enable India to catch up to global standards, with no compromise on the goal of achieving leadership in AI.