Deadline: 25 October. The October window for IndiaAI's subsidised compute credits is open now — requests are accepted between the 1st and 25th of each month on the IndiaAI portal, and this month's window closes on 25 October. Separately, decisions from the Program Monitoring and Evaluation Committee (PMEC) on large or subsidised requests filed in September are expected by 10 October.
Approved users get subsidised GPU hours on the national AI cloud: an Nvidia L40S costs Rs 67.5 per hour on demand, with a subsidy of up to 40% available. For startups and MSMEs, eligibility requires DPIIT recognition or a Udyam ID, plus incorporation documents and revenue or funding proof. Smaller requests — under 5,000 GPU hours and 50 GPUs, without subsidy — may auto-approve after verification; larger or subsidised requests go to the PMEC. Approvals remain valid for 30 days.
The compute push sits inside a much bigger sovereign-AI bet. MeitY has opened a Rs 1,500 crore incentive window for homegrown foundational-model development, and close to eight domestic teams have been shortlisted for a second round of support — including BharatGen, the IIT Bombay-anchored consortium behind the bilingual Param-1 model. They would join the first cohort of Sarvam, Soket Labs, Gnani.ai and Gan.ai, which are receiving subsidised GPU compute to build indigenous models.
For AI founders, subsidised national compute is the cheapest way to run training and pilots that would otherwise burn venture money on commercial cloud bills.
Why it matters for founders
If you are training or fine-tuning models, apply in the October window before 25 October — and get your DPIIT recognition and paperwork verified first, since ID mismatches are the most common reason applications stall. With PMEC decisions on September requests due by 10 October, this is also the week to check the status of any pending application.