Summary: The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) on 18 August 2026 issued a consultation paper, including a draft notification, proposing to enable operating lease, including any hybrid of operating and financial lease, of Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) and connected data centre equipment as a financial product in GIFT IFSC. The proposal is aimed at supporting access to AI-optimised computing infrastructure, given the high capital cost, supply constraints, rapid technology-refresh cycles and specialised nature of such equipment. The consultation paper notes that India has less than 5% of global AI-optimised compute power and is currently entirely import-dependent for the equipment. The proposed leasing model is intended to provide market-based access for cloud operators, colocation providers, hyperscalers and enterprises, complementing public compute infrastructure under the IndiaAI Mission. IFSCA considers leasing capable of converting upfront ownership costs into periodic payments while facilitating management of obsolescence and residual-value risks. The proposal remains under consultation and does not itself constitute final regulatory enablement. Stakeholders may submit comments on the consultation paper by 28 August 2026.
International Financial Services Centres Authority
PRESS RELEASE
IFSCA issues consultation paper on enabling leasing of Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) and connected data centre equipment as a financial product
IFSCA today issued a consultation paper (including draft notification) on enabling Operating Lease, including any hybrid of Operating and Financial Lease, of GPUs and connected Data Centre Equipment as a financial product in GIFT IFSC.
GPUs play a crucial role in Artificial Intelligence (AI) by providing the massive parallel processing power needed to handle complex computations efficiently. Unlike traditional CPUs, GPUs can perform thousands of operations simultaneously, making them ideal for training and running machine learning and deep learning models. They significantly accelerate tasks such as image recognition, natural language processing, and generative AI by processing large datasets and neural network calculations much faster.
The global GPU market has become an industrial capital-goods market driven by artificial intelligence. It stood at approximately USD 65 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 400–500 billion by 2030 (a CAGR of about 30–35%). India holds less than 5% of global AI-optimised compute power, while the United States and China together hold over 70% . India’s boarded AI GPU capacity stood at 38000 as on October 2025 and is expected to grow 1,00,000 by the end of 2026. Rising adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) could drive the deployment of 650,000-700,000 GPUs in India’s data centres over the next five years, creating a USD 23 billion investment opportunity. India is at present entirely import-dependent for such equipment. While the shared public compute created under the IndiaAI Mission is directed principally at startups, researchers, academia and public institutions; the commercial requirements of cloud operators, colocation providers, hyperscalers and enterprises must be met by the market. A platform for leasing GPUs is well suited to address this gap.
Leasing is a practical and economically viable mode of accessing such equipment, given its high capital cost, acute supply constraints, rapid technology-refresh cycles and specialised nature. An operating lease, or a hybrid of an operating and financial lease, converts the large upfront capital cost of ownership into a periodic payment, transfers obsolescence and residual-value risk to a lessor better placed to price, manage and remarket it, and permits redeployment of assets across lessees as workloads shift.
The proposal is aligned with the Government’s policy direction to ensure affordable and reliable access to computing resources as an enabler of India’s AI ecosystem. Leasing provides access to computing infrastructure without requiring ownership and would complement, rather than compete with, public compute infrastructure. As with aircraft and ship leasing, enabling GPU equipment leasing at this early stage of the global AI infrastructure expansion would help attract leasing activity to the IFSC, broaden its leasing ecosystem and position India as an early participant in this emerging market.
The consultation paper has been hosted on IFSCA’s website and comments on the same may be provided till August 28, 2026.
Gandhinagar
August 18, 2026
