Context

• The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) inaugurated the ‘Param Shakti’ supercomputer at IIT Madras, marking a major milestone under India’s National Supercomputing Mission (NSM).
• The inauguration was carried out by S. Krishnan, Secretary, MeitY.

Key Highlights

• Param Shakti has been established under Phase-II of the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM).
• The NSM is jointly implemented by:

• • Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)
  • Department of Science and Technology (DST)
• The mission is executed by:

• • C-DAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing)
  • Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru

Technical Specifications

• Computing Power:

• • Operates at the petaflops scale, placing it among India’s most powerful supercomputers.
• Capacity:

• • 3.1 Petaflops, capable of performing over 3.1 quadrillion calculations per second.
• Indigenous Development:

• • Part of the ‘Make in India’ initiative.

• • Designed and assembled indigenously by C-DAC, using a fully indigenous software stack.
• Infrastructure:

• • Installed in a state-of-the-art data centre at IIT Madras, equipped with:

• • • Advanced cooling systems
    • High-power backup infrastructure
• Energy Efficiency:

• • Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE): 1.2 – 1.4, making it highly energy efficient.

National Supercomputing Mission (NSM)

• As of November 2025:

• • 37 supercomputers installed across India
  • Total capacity: ~39 Petaflops
• Param Shakti is the 37th system under NSM.
• Its capacity is comparable to supercomputers installed at IIT Bombay and IIT Delhi.
• Larger systems, including India’s biggest supercomputer in Bengaluru, are planned.
• India is rapidly progressing towards Exascale Computing.

Key Applications

• Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning:

Training complex and large-scale AI models.

• Meteorology & Climate Science:

Accurate weather forecasting and climate change studies.

• Healthcare & Life Sciences:

Drug discovery, genomics, and large-scale biomedical data analysis.

• Engineering & Design:

High-end simulations for aerospace, automotive, and defence systems.

• Quantum Computing:

Testing and simulation of quantum algorithms.

Academic and Strategic Significance

• Research Enablement:

Provides high-performance computing access to IIT Madras, nearby academic institutions, and researchers.

• Atmanirbhar Bharat:

Reduces dependence on foreign supercomputing technologies and strengthens India’s technological sovereignty in HPC (High Performance Computing).

• Global Ranking:

Enhances India’s position in the TOP500 global supercomputing list.

Linkage with IndiaAI Mission

• The government promotes multiple GPU architectures to avoid dependence on a single technology or hardware platform.
• This diversification strengthens and stabilizes the AI ecosystem in India.

National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) – Overview

• Launch Year: 2015
• Nature: Flagship Government of India initiative
• Objective:

To build a nationwide network of supercomputing infrastructure and provide high-performance computing (HPC) facilities to scientists, researchers, and institutions.

• Implemented by:

MeitY and DST jointly

Phases of NSM

• Phase I:Import of components and assembly in India.
• Phase II:Manufacturing and assembly of key components (e.g., motherboards) in India.
• Phase III:Complete indigenous design and manufacturing of supercomputers.

Major Supercomputers under NSM

• Param Shivay – IIT (BHU), Varanasi (First NSM supercomputer)
• Param Shakti – IIT Kharagpur and IIT Madras
• Param Brahma – IISER Pune
• Param Siddhi-AI – C-DAC Pune (India’s fastest AI supercomputer)
• Param Kamrup – IIT Guwahati
• Param Anant – IIT Gandhinagar
• RUDRA Server Platform:
• India’s indigenous server platform developed under NSM, a major step towards self-reliance in server-node design.

Applications of Supercomputing

• Weather Forecasting: Accurate prediction of monsoons and cyclones.
• Drug and Vaccine Discovery: Used extensively during COVID-19.
• Flood Management: Urban flood early-warning systems.
• Genetics:Human genome sequencing.
• Defence: Missile simulations and aerospace design.

Future Target

• The Government of India aims to achieve 90 Petaflops of total computing capacity by March 2026.

Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC)

• A premier R&D organization under MeitY.
• Considered the architect of India’s supercomputing revolution.

Key Facts

• Established: 1988
• Headquarters: Pune, Maharashtra
• Background:

Established after the U.S. denied India access to the Cray supercomputer, prompting India to develop indigenous supercomputing capability.

Major Achievements

• PARAM 8000 (1991): India’s first indigenous supercomputer.
• PARAM Siddhi-AI: India’s fastest AI supercomputer with global recognition.
• NSM Implementation:C-DAC is the principal implementing agency for NSM across IITs and NITs.

Key Focus Areas of C-DAC

• Multilingual Computing: GIST, Indian Script Manager (ISM).
• Cyber Security: e-Pramaan and other security platforms.
• Healthcare: Development of e-Sanjeevani, India’s flagship telemedicine service.
• Education & Training: Advanced training through ACTS (Advanced Computing Training School).

Major C-DAC Centres

• Pune
• Bengaluru
• Chennai
• Delhi
• Hyderabad
• Kolkata
• Thiruvananthapuram
• Mohali

Each centre specializes in specific domains such as cyber security, VLSI design, AI, and HPC.