New Delhi witnessed a candid discussion in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday as Aam Aadmi Party MP Raghav Chadha spotlighted a critical bottleneck threatening India’s ambitious artificial intelligence roadmap. Far from being a matter of insufficient funding, capital, or talent, Chadha asserted that the real roadblock lies in the acute scarcity of computational powerhouses—specifically Graphics Processing Units (GPUs).
Chadha painted a stark picture for his fellow parliamentarians, highlighting how escalating GPU prices and persistent global supply chain disruptions are crippling the expansion of data centers and the training of sophisticated AI models in India. ‘We currently possess a mere 34,000 GPUs,’ he noted, emphasizing that this figure pales in comparison to what’s required for pioneering cutting-edge AI systems on the world stage.
Addressing the Chair, the MP sought detailed clarifications from the Ministry of Science and Technology on the government’s strategies, timelines, and diplomatic initiatives to secure reliable access to these vital resources amid geopolitical tensions.
Responding thoughtfully, Minister of State for Science and Technology (Independent Charge) Jitendra Singh acknowledged the GPU crunch as a universally recognized challenge in the AI domain. ‘GPUs form the bedrock of all AI endeavors,’ he affirmed, underscoring their indispensable role.
Singh elaborated on the India AI Mission, where ‘Compute’ stands as a dedicated pillar. This initiative procures high-end computing facilities from designated providers, offering eligible users up to 40% cost subsidies. Provisions are also in place to source additional compute resources for training large AI models boasting 30 billion or 65 billion parameters.
The minister revealed proactive measures, including opening doors for private sector investments. Just a day prior, the government issued its first call for proposals to bolster private initiatives. Singh expressed firm confidence that these steps will propel India to global parity in AI capabilities, with no dilutions in the nation’s leadership aspirations.
As India races to harness AI’s transformative potential across sectors like healthcare, agriculture, and governance, resolving the GPU conundrum emerges as non-negotiable. Chadha’s intervention has reignited urgent calls for accelerated policy actions to fuel the country’s tech revolution.