The Government of India is scaling up its artificial intelligence (AI) ambitions through the IndiaAI Mission, aimed at strengthening the country’s digital and innovation ecosystem. With a financial outlay of Rs 10,372 crore, the mission focuses on democratising access to AI technologies while addressing the growing demand for high-performance computing resources.
38,000 GPUs Onboarded to Democratise AI Development
As part of this effort, more than 38,000 Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) have been onboarded through a centralised AI compute portal. These advanced computing resources are being made available to Indian start-ups, researchers, and academic institutions at subsidised rates, enabling wider participation in AI development.
"Under the IndiaAI Mission, more than 38 thousand GPUs for common compute facility have been onboarded through the AI compute portal, which are being provided to Indian start-ups and academia at an affordable rate. GPUs are highly advanced equipment and are primarily manufactured in one country," according to an official statement from the Ministry of Electronics & IT dated March 25, 2026.
190 Projects Approved Across Sectors
The mission has approved 190 projects spanning government bodies, start-ups, MSMEs, academia, and students. Of these, 78 projects are with government entities, 46 with start-ups and MSMEs, 30 with early-stage start-ups, 27 with researchers or academia, 5 with students, and 4 with early-stage researchers.
Boosting Indigenous HPC and AI Capabilities
In parallel, to strengthen indigenous capabilities in high-performance computing (HPC) and AI—including the design and development of processors, general-purpose GPUs (GPGPUs), and accelerators—the government has initiated projects under the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM), based on the RISC-V open-source instruction set architecture.
Semicon India Programme Gains Momentum
Further advancing its semiconductor ambitions, the government stated that it has introduced the Semicon India Programme to establish a comprehensive semiconductor and display manufacturing ecosystem. So far, 10 semiconductor manufacturing units have been approved. Commercial production has commenced in one unit, while three others have begun pilot production.
Tata Electronics’ Rs 91,526 Crore Fab
Notably, Tata Electronics Private Limited (TEPL) is setting up a semiconductor fabrication facility in Gujarat with an investment of Rs 91,526 crore, targeting technology nodes ranging from 110 nm to 28 nm and a production capacity of 50,000 wafer starts per month.
Design Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme
To boost domestic chip design capabilities, the government said it is implementing the Design Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme. The programme offers a three-tier support structure, including access to advanced design infrastructure (EDA tools, IP cores, MPW services, and prototyping facilities), financial incentives covering up to 50% of project costs (capped at Rs 15 crore per application), and deployment-linked incentives ranging from 6% to 4% of net sales turnover over five years (capped at Rs 30 crore per application).
Progress in Fabless Chip Design and Manufacturing
Under the DLI Scheme, 24 semiconductor design projects have been approved across sectors such as video surveillance, drone detection, energy metering, microprocessors, satellite communications, and broadband and IoT SoCs. Among these, 14 companies have secured venture capital funding to scale and commercialise their innovations.
Additionally, 103 fabless chip design firms have been supported with access to advanced infrastructure. So far, seven chips have been successfully fabricated out of 16 designs taped out at global foundries, including advanced 12 nm nodes at TSMC. The initiative has also led to the filing of 10 patents and the development of over 140 reusable semiconductor IP cores, serving as critical enablers for advanced chip design.
This information was provided by Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, Jitin Prasada, in the Lok Sabha on March 25, 2026.
