C-DAC Invites Providers to Supply Up to 10,000 AI Compute Units Under IndiaAI Mission
C-DAC is inviting AI service providers to supply up to 10,000 AI compute units (GPUs, TPUs and accelerators) for ministries, academia, research institutions, startups and industry.
The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), working under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), has issued a request for empanelment (RFE) inviting AI service providers to supply up to 10,000 AI compute units. The units include graphics processing units (GPUs), TPUs and other accelerators used for AI workloads. The call falls under the IndiaAI Mission and is open to providers able to supply the required infrastructure.
A parliamentary panel's report raised questions about how much of India's data is stored and processed inside the country, and about the official data behind that picture. The two items are separate. The compute call is a supply request under the IndiaAI Mission, while the report is a committee review covering digital governance, AI and India's role in global tech diplomacy.
What the Call Asks Providers to Supply
Under the new RFE, providers are asked to supply the required infrastructure, which the call describes as GPUs, TPUs, accelerators and similar hardware used for AI workloads. Medianama reports that the RFE was released on 7 October 2026.
The RFE counts supply in AI compute units rather than in a single type of chip, so one unit can be a GPU, a TPU or another accelerator. The figure of up to 10,000 refers to those units.
The hardware should be within India. Medianama reports that all infrastructure, data, metadata, logs, backups and disaster recovery should be within the country, and that providers should follow Indian data localisation laws.
How the Units Would Be Organised and Used
The 10,000 units are to be organised into clusters of 4,000, 1,000 or 512 units, or as specified in Stage-2 of the RFE. Each cluster must contain at least 512 AI compute units at a single Indian data centre, according to Medianama. Capacity should be spread across more than one location, though the cities are not specified.
Providers should also keep C-DAC's data physically and logically separate from other customers, and prevent unauthorised access, sharing or transfer of that data. These conditions sit alongside the localisation requirement.
Medianama lists large-scale AI model training, fine-tuning, inference and high-performance computing as potential uses of the compute.
Who Can Use the Compute
Medianama lists the beneficiaries as ministries, departments, academia, research institutions, startups and industry. The compute is therefore meant for public bodies as well as private firms.
The 2024 notice framed its target differently. Published on 16 August 2024, it described a 10,000-GPU effort that would benefit startups, researchers, students and academicians. Ministries and industry appear in Medianama's description of the 2026 call but not in that sentence.
How the 2024 Round Set the Pattern
The 2024 RFE sought providers of AI compute and services, and applications were solicited through the CPP portal. Nineteen service providers submitted bids by the deadline of 28 November 2024.
A technical evaluation committee was to assess bids against the eligibility and technical criteria in the RFE. Eligible bidders were to be invited to present, and commercial bids were to be opened only for technically qualified bidders.
Empanelment is to be valid for 36 months, with an option to extend it by a further 12 months. The notice lists Jio Platforms, Tata Communications and E2E Networks among the 19 bidders.
The notice names the IndiaAI Independent Business Division under MeitY as the mission's implementation agency. Medianama says C-DAC has been designated as the implementing agency for the IndiaAI Mission.
The 2026 call's figure of up to 10,000 units matches the 10,000-GPU target in the 2024 notice.
The compute call says infrastructure and data should remain in India.
Funding and the First Tender
On 8 October 2026, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said demand is estimated at 10,000 GPUs and that the first tender would cover 5,000, according to Medianama. The RFE does not specify how many of the 10,000 units will be procured in the first round, so the minister's figure is not set out in the call itself.
Medianama also reports that Vaishnaw described a procurement approach that departs from conventional tenders, and that a consultation paper on AI regulation would follow within a month.
A related Medianama story's headline says only ₹400 crore of the over ₹10,000 crore five-year IndiaAI outlay has been released, which is less than 4%.
What the Panel Found on Data Centre Capacity
The Standing Committee on External Affairs' 17th Report covers global tech diplomacy, digital governance, outer space diplomacy, AI and emerging innovations. Medianama reports that it was presented in September 2026. The report cites estimates that India accounts for nearly 20% of the world's data but only 3% of global data centre capacity.
MeitY said standard global datasets do not support the 20% figure and that the 3% figure is indicative rather than precise. Medianama reports that MeitY said it does not officially maintain data on data centre capacity and relies on industry estimates.
The report contains differing 2020 figures. MeitY's response, as cited in the report, gives industry estimates of 375 megawatts (MW) for 2020, rising to more than 1,500 MW in 2025, while other sections use 520 MW for 2020. The report also places capacity at about 520 MW in 2020 and about 1.5 gigawatts (GW) in 2025.
The report projects about 2 GW for 2026 and more than 8 GW for 2030, and names Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and Delhi NCR as major data centre hubs. The committee also notes industry estimates of between 5 and 10 GW by 2030.
The report says a portion of Indian data is stored or processed outside the country, without quantifying that share.
It recommends systematic collection and publication of verified data on capacity (Recommendation 36), an assessment of Indian data held overseas and its security implications (Recommendation 37), and safeguards for cross-border personal data with coordination on breaches (Recommendation 38). The report says the committee asked the Ministry of External Affairs to coordinate with MeitY and other ministries on verified capacity, utilisation and growth data.
The compute call says infrastructure and data should remain in India. The panel's recommendations ask for verified capacity figures and an assessment of Indian data held overseas. MeitY does not officially maintain data on data centre capacity.
