India weighs overseas sales of unused GPU capacity amid shortages
India's AI scene has hit a weird snag: some GPUs are underutilized and the government is now considering letting providers sell this unused capacity overseas.
At the same time, Indian startups and researchers are scrambling for affordable computing power but keep running into high costs and patchy infrastructure, even though 14 companies were enlisted under the ₹10,372 crore IndiaAI Mission to offer subsidized access.
About 30,000 GPUs serve small projects
Around 30,000 GPUs in India can only handle smaller AI projects, not the big frontier stuff, so many startups end up using cheaper APIs instead.
Sasank Chilamkurthy, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of JOHNAIC, points out that getting these subsidized resources isn't easy since private providers focus on profits over access.
He says the problem is that government does not own the GPUs to allocate them.
Experts suggest smarter policies and better pricing could help unlock more of India's AI potential.