India plans indigenous GPU chips within 24 months, says MeitY Secretary

India wants its own GPU, and it wants one fast. MeitY Secretary S. Krishnan said the country plans to develop indigenous GPU chips within 24 months.

The goal sits inside a broader government push on sovereign AI. That push covers data protection, homegrown AI models and the opportunities AI is opening up for India’s IT industry.

What MeitY is actually planning

The GPU target ties into the India Semiconductor Mission 2.0, or ISM 2.0. The Cabinet approved the updated mission in July 2026 with an allocation of roughly ₹1.27 lakh crore (approximately $15 billion) spread over 12 years.

ISM 2.0 widens the scope of the original program. It now explicitly includes AI-specific accelerators, along with a full ecosystem of supporting semiconductor infrastructure.

As of late 2026, five of the twelve projects approved under ISM 1.0 have entered commercial production.

Krishnan framed the GPU effort against a difficult global backdrop. Supply of AI GPUs has been tight worldwide, and prices for the chips have climbed.

The building blocks already in place

India is not starting from a blank page. The country already has indigenous processors, including SHAKTI and VEGA, and the government aims to commercialize them.

Talent is the other big asset. India accounts for about 20% of the global semiconductor design workforce.

The software side is moving too. Under the IndiaAI Mission, three indigenous AI models were revealed on November 3, 2026. They include EKA-1 from Soket Labs, a model with 26 billion parameters, alongside the Dhīr variants.

Notably, the government has said it remains committed to a technology-agnostic approach when procuring AI computing resources.

Why the 24-month target matters

The broader theme is Atmanirbhar Bharat, the government’s long-running self-reliance agenda. Semiconductors and AI have become two of its highest-profile pillars, alongside data rules like the Digital Personal Data Protection Act.

What to watch over the next two years: whether MeitY publishes concrete milestones for the GPU program, how SHAKTI and VEGA commercialization progresses, and whether models like EKA-1 and the Dhīr variants end up running on Indian hardware. The technology-agnostic procurement stance means homegrown chips will have to compete for business.