New Delhi : Indian technology leaders have voiced concerns over new U.S. regulations restricting AI chip exports, warning of potential setbacks to India’s artificial intelligence development ambitions.
Industry experts suggest the restrictions could impede access to crucial GPUs and drive up procurement costs for Indian enterprises.
Ashok Chandak, president of the India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA), emphasised that the regulations could particularly impact large-scale AI data centers requiring hundreds of thousands of GPUs, potentially putting Indian companies at a competitive disadvantage globally.
This comes at a crucial time when India’s National AI Mission is working to establish infrastructure with over 10,000 GPUs through public-private partnerships, backed by a Rs 10,000 crore investment spread across five years.
HCL founder and EPIC Foundation chairman Ajai Chowdhry advocates for India to develop indigenous chip technology as a strategic response.
He highlighted India’s progress with RISC-V technology at IIT Madras, suggesting an expansion of the Design Linked Incentive policy under the India Semiconductor Mission to support domestic chip development.
Chowdhry proposed increasing funding from Rs 30 crore to between Rs 50-150 crore, expressing optimism about India’s potential to create its own equivalents of NVIDIA or AMD within a decade.
While the regulations are set to take effect in 120 days, their long-term impact remains uncertain with the incoming Trump administration having the authority to modify them.
IESA’s Chandak noted that while immediate effects on India might be limited, the quantity caps could pose challenges for Indian conglomerates’ scaling plans in the future.
Despite these concerns, major technology companies continue to show confidence in India’s AI potential.
Microsoft’s recent announcement of a USD 3 billion investment in Indian cloud and AI infrastructure, including plans for a fourth datacenter region by 2026, demonstrates ongoing international commitment to developing India’s AI computing ecosystem and supporting its growing community of AI startups and researchers.
