9JANUARY 2026INDIA SEEKS NVIDIA TIE-UP TO MANUFACTURE HIGH-END AI GPUS LOCALLYNIPPON PAINT PLANS RS 200 CR INVESTMENT IN INDIANippon Paint India has announced a fresh 200 crore investment plan to scale its manufacturing presence across the country, marking a major industry push that underscores its confidence in India's growth prospects.The company plans to deploy this capital over the next 12­18 months to expand capacity at existing facilities and add new manufacturing lines, particularly for high-growth and technically advanced segments such as automotive coatings, where domestic capacity is currently limited.This strategic investment comes under the leadership of newly appointed Managing Director Sharad Malhotra, who In a post on X, the minister wrote: "Discussed development of sovereign GPUs and manufacturing of edge devices like DGX Spark in Bharat. This device delivers up to 1 petaFLOP performance with secure inferencing for models up to 200 billion parameters. This compact GPU doesn't require the Internet. Suitable for railways, shipping, healthcare, education and remote applications."The centerpiece of the talks was NVIDIA's DGX Spark, a compact AI supercomputer unveiled at CES 2026. Built for edge computing, the system supports offline AI inference, delivers up to one petaFLOP of performance, and can run large language models with up to 200 billion parameters, making it ideal for remote or sensitive environments.Manufacturing such devices in India aligns with the Atmanirbhar Bharat mission and the country's push to develop sovereign GPU designs within three to four years, potentially using open-source or licensed technologies. This effort is being reinforced by the India AI Mission, which has rolled out 38,000 subsidised GPUs at Rs 65 per hour and selected 12 startups to build indigenous AI models.While no formal agreement has been announced, industry watchers see collaboration with NVIDIA, which controls over 80% of the global GPU market, as a catalyst for India's entry into advanced semiconductor manufacturing. is driving a consolidated, India-focused operating model. Malhotra emphasized that the company will strengthen its pan-India footprint, moving beyond its traditionally strong markets in the south to capture demand in urban and semi-urban regions across the north and east. The unified model is designed to improve manufacturing flexibility, operational leverage, and distribution reach.Nippon Paint's current network includes seven manufacturing plants nationwide, with plans to not only upgrade these units but also consider acquisitions of companies or additional manufacturing units to support broader product portfolios. The investment targets expansions that will enhance output for decorative paints, automotive refinishes, OEM coatings, and industrial applications, aligning with the company's aim to drive double-digit growth in India.Industry watchers say this move reflects Nippon Paint's strategy to compete more aggressively with established players by strengthening local production and distribution, meeting rising demand for quality coatings across sectors. With an estimated 4­5 percent market share and about 3,000 crore in revenue, India remains a core growth engine for the company's broader Asia-Pacific ambitions. After the success of Apple's local manufacturing drive, the Centre has turned its attention to building a domestic high-end GPU and AI hardware ecosystem, with Union Minister for Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw holding high-level discussions with NVIDIA executives to advance India's ambitions for locally made graphics processors.Vaishnaw met Vishal Dhupar, NVIDIA's Managing Director for South Asia, and senior officials to explore opportunities for manufacturing advanced edge AI devices in India and reducing reliance on imported semiconductor technology.Image Credit: skoda-auto.co.in/
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