Launch and Institutional Context
Param Shakti Supercomputing Facility Launched: The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has launched Param Shakti at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras.
The launch marks a major addition to India’s academic high performance computing ecosystem.
The facility has been funded under the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM).
It strengthens India’s focus on self-reliance in advanced computing infrastructure.
Technical Profile of Param Shakti
Param Shakti is an indigenously developed 3.1 Petaflop supercomputing system.
This level of performance places it among the most powerful computational systems in Indian academic institutions.
The system is built using Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC)’s RUDRA series of servers.
It runs on an open-source software stack, including AlmaLinux, ensuring flexibility and security.
Static GK fact: One petaflop equals one quadrillion floating-point operations per second, a standard benchmark for measuring supercomputer performance.
Research and Academic Significance
The computational capacity of Param Shakti is expected to support advanced research across multiple domains.
Key areas include aerospace engineering, materials science, climate modelling, drug discovery, and advanced manufacturing.
Such computing power allows large-scale simulations and data-intensive research.
This reduces dependence on foreign computational infrastructure for critical scientific work.
National Supercomputing Mission Overview
The National Supercomputing Mission was launched in 2015 to strengthen India’s HPC ecosystem.
Its core objective is to connect academic and research institutions through a grid of over 70 high-performance computing facilities.
All supercomputers under NSM are networked through the National Supercomputing Grid.
This grid operates over the National Knowledge Network (NKN), enabling seamless access and resource sharing.
Governance and Implementation Structure
NSM is jointly steered by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and MeitY.
This joint stewardship ensures alignment between scientific research goals and digital infrastructure policies.
The mission is implemented by C-DAC, Pune, and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.
These institutions play a central role in design, deployment, and capacity building.
Static GK Tip: India follows a mission-mode approach for large science infrastructure projects, similar to space and nuclear programs.
India’s Supercomputing Milestones
PARAM 8000 was India’s first supercomputer, marking the beginning of indigenous HPC capability.
Param Pravega is currently the largest supercomputer in India in terms of performance.
Param Shivay is recognized as India’s first indigenously built supercomputer.
AIRAWAT functions as a common compute platform focused on artificial intelligence research and knowledge assimilation.
These milestones reflect the evolution of India’s supercomputing journey from import dependence to self-reliance.
Static Usthadian Current Affairs Table
Param Shakti Supercomputing Facility Launched:
| Topic | Detail |
| Param Shakti | 3.1 Petaflop indigenous supercomputing system |
| Location | Indian Institute of Technology Madras |
| Funding Mission | National Supercomputing Mission |
| NSM Launch Year | 2015 |
| Implementing Agencies | C-DAC Pune and IISc Bengaluru |
| Networking Backbone | National Knowledge Network |
| First Indian Supercomputer | PARAM 8000 |
| Largest Supercomputer | Param Pravega |
| First Indigenous System | Param Shivay |
| AI Compute Platform | AIRAWAT |
