Indian drugmaker exported Nvidia AI chips to Russia amid western sanctions on Moscow: Report

Shreya Life Sciences is a pharmaceutical firm based at Andheri in Mumbai.

Published on: Oct 30, 2024, 20:28:48 IST

By HT News Desk

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Shreya Life Sciences, a Mumbai-based drugmaker, allegedly exported Nvidia artificial intelligence (AI) chips to Russia, amid sanctions western governments' sanctions on Moscow for the war in Ukraine.

A NVIDIA logo is shown at SIGGRAPH 2017 in Los Angeles, California, US. (Reuters)

The chips were found in close to 1000 out of 1111 units of Dell Technologies' most-advanced servers, shipped to Russia by Shreya Life Sciences from April to August, the Bloomberg report said.

Known as PowerEdge XE9680, the servers contain high-end processors optimised for AI made by Nvidia, Dell's website shows. As many as 998 servers were found equipped with Nvidia's H100 chips.

Also Read: Nvidias Jensen Huang targets more partnerships with Indian companies

The servers and chips are among items restricted by both the United States and European Union (EU) to target ‘sensitive sectors in Russia's military industrial complex.'

Meanwhile, the report also claimed the shipments were worth $300 million and imported by two Russian companies: Main Chain Limited and LS LLC. These were just the latest in a series of advanced technology exports Shreya made ‘perfectly legally’ to Russia, it added.

However, it further stated India was only the point of transshipment; the source, in fact, was Malaysia. Last month, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, in a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, had hailed the ‘enormous potential’ to enhance regional trade relations, including through advanced technologies.

Also Read: Nvidia's Jensen Huang effusively praises ‘incredible student’ PM Modi

India, it must be noted, is not a party to the western sanctions on Moscow. Therefore, business with Russia is not illegal in India.

Shreya Life Sciences

According to Bloomberg, the company was founded in Moscow in 1995 by Sujit Kumar Singh, just as Russia was on the verge of economic breakdown. Beginning its journey as a distribution and marketing company of pharmaceutical drugs, it later created its own manufacturing plant for generic drugs.

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