Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud computing arm of Amazon, is in discussions with the Indian government regarding its Request for Proposal (RFP) to acquire high-performance graphic processor units (GPUs) for the India AI Mission. This initiative, which aims to strengthen the country’s computing infrastructure, has attracted the interest of major tech players, including Nvidia, Intel, AMD, Qualcomm, Microsoft Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud.
Pankaj Gupta, Leader-Public Sector at Amazon India, highlighted the importance of the India AI Mission during an interaction with a newspaper at the AWS Empower India event. He described the mission as a pivotal framework for empowering the AI sector. “We are actively engaging with the government on the RFP for the India AI program. This initiative by the Government of India will democratize AI and foster collaboration within the ecosystem,” Gupta said.
The India AI Mission, with a budget of Rs 10,372 crore, is focused on procuring advanced GPUs for distribution to Indian startups developing AI solutions that require significant computational resources. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) recently issued the RFP for GPU procurement from private companies.
Gupta also reaffirmed AWS’s commitment to investing $15 billion in India by 2030, having already invested $3.7 billion between 2016 and 2022. An additional $12.7 billion will be invested across the country, including the establishment of a major data cluster in Hyderabad.
During the AWS Empower India event, the company announced several public sector partnerships, including collaborations with the National Health Authority (NHA), Government e-Marketplace (GeM), and Public Sector Bank Alliance (PSBA). AWS is helping NHA implement core modules of the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) program, providing scalable and secure solutions for beneficiary identification and transaction management.
Additionally, AWS was empaneled by the PSB Alliance Private Limited (PSBA) to provide cloud computing services to India’s public sector banks (PSBs), including major banks like Punjab National Bank, State Bank of India, and Bank of Baroda. Initially, AWS will assist PSBs with peripheral services such as WhatsApp banking and loan management, with plans to support core banking services in the future. Gupta explained that AWS aims to simplify the public sector procurement process for member banks by offering non-core services first and later transitioning to more complex core banking functions.
