Quantum Computing and Supercomputing : India’s Ambitious Rs 10000 Cr Plan

The government plans to create supercomputing and quantum computing hubs in collaboration with the private sector through public-private partnerships. The officials, who requested anonymity, told ET that the project may receive up to Rs 10,000 crore from the government. The project aims to enhance the country’s potential in emerging technologies and promote innovation and research. The hubs will offer state-of-the-art computing resources and services to various stakeholders, such as academia, industry, startups, and government agencies.

Upcoming Announcement at Global Artificial Intelligence Summit and Awards

A government official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, disclosed that the government will announce its strategies to enhance the artificial intelligence sector in the country at the forthcoming Global Artificial Intelligence Summit and Awards. The event, which will be held  on January 18 and 19, will gather experts, researchers, policymakers and industry leaders from across the globe to explore the current trends and challenges in the field of artificial intelligence. The awards will honor and celebrate the achievements and innovations of individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to the advancement of artificial intelligence in various domains.

Another senior official said that the proposed hubs would provide startups, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and other companies with access to high-performance computing. They could either lease it or use it on a “compute-as-a-service” basis.

Quantum Computing Hub Blueprint: 30,000 GPUs and Decade-Long Vision

The plan is to equip the quantum computing hubs with up to 30,000 GPUs (graphic processing units) in a similar way to DPI (digital public infrastructure),” the official explained.

The quantum computing hubs will initially be established in prominent academic institutions and government R&D (research and development) centres, the official said. “It may take a decade to achieve the desired computing power,” the person said.

A report by ET in October 2023 stated that MeitY had proposed to establish a cluster of 25,000 GPUs under public-private partnerships. This cluster would be available to Indian companies that work on AI and other emerging technologies that need high computing power.

Upcoming AI Initiatives: Compute Capacity as a Service and Implementation of Recommendations

The government may announce two major initiatives on artificial intelligence (AI) soon. One is to offer compute capacity as a service, and the other is to adopt most of the recommendations from seven working groups on AI, a senior MeitY official said.

The working groups had submitted their reports in October last year. They suggested setting up a data management office, a national AI centre, skilling on AI, and finding ways to ensure responsible implementation of a national AI strategy.

“For example, we have the NDMO (national data management office), which has been suggested by one of the working groups,” the ministry official said. “The proposal is for a non-statutory but independent agency. It will suggest and oversee the procedure for collection, storage, quality control and independent audit of all data collected by government-run institutions.”