C-DAC has extended the AI compute empanelment deadline to November 13, 2026, 15:30 IST, with technical opening on November 14, 2026, 16:00 IST. The tender carries Reference C-DAC/GPU/01/2026 and Tender ID 2026_DIT_929273_1. The window is tight but meaningful for clouds, data centres, and ambitious startups.
Why it matters now: empanelment is the on‑ramp to IndiaAI workloads. The mission targets 10,000 GPUs, and bids already overshot that capacity. Stage‑2 price discovery runs on GeM among empanelled firms. Faster qualification can trim compute costs and unlock paid pilots across academia and departments.
Who can apply and minimum AI compute capacity C-DAC expects
The bidder must be an Indian legal entity and a data centre operator, or be setting one up. Audited turnover must exceed Rs 120 crore, with positive net worth. ISO 27001 and NOC plus SOC are required. Scoring rewards installed 512 AI Compute Units, and 60 marks minimum. Work orders need 512 units commissioned within six months.
GPU class, network, latency and SLA requirements
An AI Compute Unit can be a GPU or equivalent accelerator. Think H100‑class or MI300‑class capability for training and large inference. Presentations must detail scale‑up plans and latency. C-DAC expects 24×7 monitoring, resource‑telemetry portals, and hardened SASE with SOC. Data stays in India, with encryption, audited logs, and disaster recovery.
Compliance documents and pricing annex basics in C-DAC AI compute empanelment
Prepare incorporation, tax registrations, audited statements, DC ownership or co‑location proof, and ISO certificates. No EMD applies, but a Rs 10 crore backup guarantee is specified. Performance security is five percent at award. PPP‑MII and Integrity Pact are included. Pricing comes later in Stage‑2 on GeM with SLAs, damages, and payment terms.
Can startups lead and are consortiums allowed?
The RFE names a single Indian legal entity as the bidder. It does not explicitly permit consortium bids in this round. Treat the submission as single‑entity unless a new corrigendum clarifies otherwise. Startups can join via partnerships with qualifying data centre operators or clouds that control facilities and compliance.
Seven‑day execution checklist: assign a bid owner; freeze DC site and 512‑AICU roadmap; assemble eligibility proofs; line up the Rs 10 crore bank guarantee; finalise SASE, NOC and DR diagrams; benchmark latency and throughput; pre‑draft SLAs; prep hiring slates for solutions architects, MLOps engineers and infrastructure SREs to ramp once shortlisted.
