Published: [October 20, 2026]
StartupFeed Quick Take
- C-DAC wants up to 10,000 AI compute units, and bids close at 3.30 pm on October 29, 2026.
- A bidder needs 512 units at one Indian data centre and Rs 120 crore average turnover.
- Full marks on GPUs, money and the pitch still score 55 of 100. The pass mark is 60.
C-DAC has invited bids in New Delhi to supply up to 10,000 AI compute units, and the window shuts on October 29, 2026.
The C-DAC GPU tender is the second compute buy of this size under the IndiaAI Mission. A PIB statement of February 17, 2026 put mission capacity above 38,000 GPUs at Rs 65 an hour. Another 20,000 were announced the same day.
So this is not more of the same. The C-DAC empanelment document of October 7, 2026 sets up a dedicated block of compute, reserved for the government and hired for five years.
Ashwini Vaishnaw, who runs the electronics and IT ministry, put a smaller number on the first round.
“Our demand estimate is for 10,000 GPUs, and the first tender that we are coming out with is for 5,000.”
Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India. From his remarks at the World Development Report 2026 event, October 8, 2026, as reported by MediaNama.
The 43-page paper names no quantity for the first round. Stage-2 buying will run in several rounds, through the Government e-Marketplace.
What the C-DAC GPU Tender Asks For
The tender number is C-DAC/GPU/01/2026, published on October 7, 2026. Bids close at 3.30 pm on October 29, 2026, and technical proposals open the next afternoon. Each bid stays valid for 180 days.
The ask is up to 10,000 AI compute units. A compute unit means a GPU, a TPU or a similar chip. The units sit in clusters of 4,000, 1,000 or 512.
Every cluster must hold at least 512 units at one data centre inside India. C-DAC can scale past 10,000 units later if ministries and startups ask for more.
The hardware named is H100, H200 and later chips, split into three tiers by power. Service runs for five years, and billing starts only when C-DAC accepts the infrastructure. Empanelment means joining an approved supplier list.
That listing lasts three years and can be stretched by three more. One rule cuts out the middlemen. The winner must run the service itself and cannot hand it to another provider.
All data, metadata, logs, backups and disaster recovery must stay inside India.
Who Can Bid and Who Is Shut Out
A bidder must be a company or LLP registered in India. It needs 512 compute units already installed and running at one Indian site.
A firm still building can bid instead. It must show a purchase order, give a Rs 10 crore guarantee and install within six months. Miss that date and the money is forfeited.
The money bar is the one that stops most startups. Average audited turnover across FY24, FY25 and FY26 must be at least Rs 120 crore. Net worth must be positive on March 31, 2026.
Four more gates follow. A Tier-III or better data centre in India, a valid ISO 27001 certificate, a network operations centre and a security operations centre on Indian soil.
The hardware bar is lower than last time. The 2024 round asked winners to bring 1,000 compute units within six months of signing. This round asks for 512.
Blacklisted firms are out. So are firms de-empanelled by IndiaAI or MeitY, and bidders from countries that share a land border with India.
Why GPUs Alone Will Not Pass the 100-Mark Test
Clearing those gates only gets a bidder into the marking, under Section 8. Scoring runs out of 100 and the pass mark is 60.
Installed capacity in India carries the biggest block, 30 marks. A bidder gets 20 for the first 512 units and 10 more for another 512, so 1,024 units maxes it out.
Financial capability carries 15 marks of the 100. Rs 120 crore of turnover earns 10, and each extra Rs 10 crore adds one. We worked it out: Rs 170 crore is where that parameter tops out.
Now add the pitch. A technical presentation is worth 10 marks. Full marks on capacity, money and the presentation come to 55 out of 100.
That is a fail. The missing 45 marks sit in data centre features, security papers, zero-trust networking and past government work.
So raw compute does not win this one. A young GPU cloud with 1,024 units, Rs 170 crore of turnover and a good deck still needs five more marks from somewhere.
| Scoring parameter | Maximum marks | What earns full marks |
|---|---|---|
| Installed AICU capacity in India | 30 | 1,024 units installed and running |
| Data centre in India | 15 | 0.5 MW IT load, renewable power, liquid cooling |
| Data centre security compliance | 15 | Five certificates, 3 marks each |
| Zero-trust SOC and SOAR, SASE | 5 | Proof of a SASE setup |
| Financial capability | 15 | Rs 170 crore average turnover |
| Government or PSU experience | 10 | Three or more finished projects |
| Technical presentation | 10 | Network, security and scaling plan |
A Rs 10 Crore Guarantee Written Two Ways
One number in the paper is written two ways, and a bidder has to resolve it before filing.
The backup guarantee for firms still installing is set at Rs 10 crore. The heading says it, the clause says it, and the bank guarantee format repeats the figure in words and digits.
Two lines say Rs 30 crore instead. One sets the last date for a Rs 30 crore guarantee. The other heads the guarantee format with an amount of thirty crore.
The route to a formal answer has closed. Pre-bid queries were due by October 13, 2026, and the pre-bid meeting was held online on October 14.
C-DAC can still issue a corrigendum, an official correction, any time before the closing date, and any correction binds every bidder. Anyone planning a Rs 10 crore instrument should watch the portal daily until October 29.
What this means for you: If you run an Indian GPU cloud or a Tier-III data centre with 512 accelerators, this is your bid window. File on eprocure.in before 3.30 pm on October 29, 2026, and check your ISO and SASE papers first, because they carry 20 marks.
StartupFeed Insight
The first IndiaAI rounds bought cheap hours on somebody else’s cloud. This one buys a reserved block the government can point at, for five years, with no subcontracting allowed. That is a shift from marketplace to landlord. The scoring tells you who it is written for. A firm with papers, a Tier-III floor and a history of government work, not the fastest GPU buyer. Read the 55-mark ceiling as the real entry test. Expect fewer than ten firms to clear 60 marks when technical proposals open on October 30. Expect at least one corrigendum before that.
By Saraswati Chaubey, Writer
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