Why India’s AI Boom Is Running On A Waiting List

Despite easing shortages, demand for advanced AI GPUs continues to outpace supply, pushing delivery timelines from weeks to months

Geopolitical tensions, export controls and component bottlenecks are forcing AI infrastructure providers to secure capacity years in advance

As India scales its AI ambitions through private investment and the IndiaAI Mission, access to compute is emerging as a critical competitive advantage

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The way India buys AI compute is being rewritten. The acute GPU shortage that dominated the early GenAI boom has eased from its most extreme levels, but the market is still far from relaxed. 

Industry insiders say the scramble has now shifted from older-generation GPUs to acquiring the latest-generation AI chips, which remain difficult to source. To remedy this, cloud providers are now moving to reserve capacity months in advance and leaning on mixed fleets of old and new hardware to keep........

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