The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), through IndiaAI Independent Business Division (IBD) has published a request for empanelment (RFE) via the CPP portal. The RFE invited applications for the empanelment of agencies to provide artificial intelligence (AI) compute and cloud services. This initiative aims to make available 10,000 graphics processing units (GPUs) to support India’s AI mission, benefiting start-ups, researchers, students, and academicians.
The pre-bid meeting in August 2024 witnessed enthusiastic participation from over 50 service providers, including cloud service providers (CSPs), managed service providers (MSPs), micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs), and data centre service providers. Following the resolution of pre-bid queries, necessary corrigenda were published, extending the bid submission deadline to November 28, 2024. The bid submission process concluded on the same date.
The bids were opened on December 2, 2024 on the CPP portal. A total of 19 bidders submitted proposals, showcasing widespread participation from CSPs, MSPs, and data centre service providers.
The bidders include CloudThat Technologies Private Limited, CMS Computers India Private Limited, Ctrls Datacenters Limited, Cyfuture India Private Limited, E2E Networks Limited, Hostin Services Private Limited, I2k2 Networks Private Limited, Ishan Infotech Limited, Jio Platforms Limited, Locuz Enterprise Solutions Limited, M/s Orient Technologies Limited, NxtGen Datacenter and Cloud Technologies Private Limited, Path Infotech Limited, Shezar Web Technologies Private Limited, Sify Digital Services Limited, Tata Communications Limited, Unicloud Labs Private Limited, Vensysco Technologies Limited and Yotta Data Services Private Limited.
The technical evaluation committee will now begin evaluating these bids based on the eligibility and technical criteria specified in the RFE document. Eligible bidders will be invited to present their proposed solutions during the technical presentation stage. Commercial bids will be opened only for the technically qualified bidders.
The empanelment will be valid for 36 months, with the option to extend for an additional 12 months based on mutually agreed terms. IndiaAI will ensure that all processes post-empanelment is transparent and accessible to stakeholders.
