Building India’s Indigenous Supercomputing Ecosystem
1
India’s indigenous supercomputing journey began with PARAM 8000, developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) and unveiled in 1991 with a computing speed of 1 gigaflop. The PARAM series later included systems such as PARAM Yuva with a capacity of 54 teraflops.
2
The National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) was launched in April 2015 with an outlay of about ₹4,500 crore to strengthen India’s High-Performance Computing (HPC) capabilities and build self-reliance in supercomputing.
3
NSM is jointly steered by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), while C-DAC, Pune and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru implement the Mission.
4
NSM follows a three-phase “Build Approach” consisting of assembly, manufacturing, and design and manufacturing support, combining expansion of computing infrastructure with development of indigenous technological capabilities.
5
NSM plans to establish 50 supercomputers with a cumulative computing capacity exceeding 123 petaFLOPS (PF) across academic and research institutions in India.
6
As of September 2026, 40 supercomputers with a combined capacity of 68 PF had been deployed under NSM. These included 13 systems exceeding 1 PF, 12 systems between 500 teraFLOPS (TF) and 1 PF, and 15 systems below 500 TF.
7
Supercomputer performance is measured in FLOPS (Floating Point Operations Per Second). One teraFLOPS represents one trillion calculations per second and one petaFLOPS represents one quadrillion calculations per second. The world’s fastest supercomputer in 2026 was stated to achieve about 2.19 exaflops.
8
NSM supports applications in computational biology, weather prediction, climate modelling, disaster management, big-data analytics, astrophysics, genomics, drug discovery, urban environment monitoring, seismic imaging, flood prediction, forest-fire modelling, materials science and computational chemistry.
9
The Early Warning System for Flood Prediction uses data analysis and predictive models to forecast floods up to two days in advance and has been applied to the Mahanadi River basin. The Forest Fire Spread Model combines satellite remote sensing with computational modelling and has been tested in regions such as the Sikkim Himalayas.
10
NSM contributes to 11 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals through applications including flood prediction, forest-fire management, climate modelling, scientific training, indigenous technology development, economic growth and collaboration among academia, industry and research institutions.
11
The indigenous Rudra Series of servers, designed and developed by C-DAC, provides processing capability for complex calculations and simulations. Its technology has been transferred to Indian Electronics Manufacturing Services partners for manufacturing.
12
PARAM Rudra supercomputers use indigenously designed and manufactured Rudra servers along with an indigenous system software stack. As of September 2026, 6,000 Rudra servers had been deployed and another 1,500 were under manufacturing.
13
Indigenous technologies developed under NSM include high-speed interconnect networks operating at 100 Gbps and 200 Gbps, indigenous cooling technology, a complete HPC system software stack, and PARAM Shavak, a domestically designed and manufactured “supercomputing-in-a-box” system for students and researchers.
14
As of September 2026, NSM infrastructure had supported more than 16,000 researchers, including over 2,900 PhD scholars across more than 400 institutions. The systems had executed more than 1.5 crore compute jobs and contributed to over 1,990 research publications.
15
The National Knowledge Network (NKN) acts as the backbone of the NSM ecosystem by connecting supercomputing facilities across academic and research institutions through a high-speed national network, enabling remote access to computing resources, collaboration and sharing of computational and scientific capabilities.
Must Know Terms
1. High-Performance Computing (HPC)
High-Performance Computing refers to the use of powerful computing systems that process massive datasets and perform complex calculations and simulations at very high speeds. It supports areas such as climate modelling, drug discovery, engineering and scientific research.
2. FLOPS
FLOPS stands for Floating Point Operations Per Second. It is used to measure the computing power of a supercomputer. One teraFLOPS represents one trillion calculations per second, while one petaFLOPS represents one quadrillion calculations per second.
3. Build Approach
The National Supercomputing Mission follows a three-phase Build Approach consisting of assembly, manufacturing, and design and manufacturing support. It is intended to develop indigenous supercomputing infrastructure and technological capabilities.
4. PARAM Rudra
PARAM Rudra refers to supercomputers built using indigenously designed and manufactured Rudra servers along with an indigenous system software stack. They support applications in astronomy, material science, atomic physics and earth sciences.
5. High-Speed Interconnect Network
It is a high-speed communication network connecting different computing nodes within a supercomputing system. Under the Mission, interconnect technologies operating at 100 Gbps and 200 Gbps have been developed and tested to enable faster data transfer between nodes.
6. National Knowledge Network
The National Knowledge Network (NKN) is the high-speed national network that connects supercomputing facilities across academic and research institutions. It enables access to computing resources, collaboration and sharing of computational and scientific capabilities across different locations.
Multiple-Choice Questions
1. With reference to the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM), consider the following statements:
1. It was launched in April 2015.
2. It was launched with an outlay of about ₹4,500 crore.
3. It is jointly steered by the Department of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
4. It is implemented by C-DAC, Pune and IISc, Bengaluru.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) 1, 2 and 3 only
(b) 1, 3 and 4 only
(c) 1, 2, 3 and 4
(d) 2 and 4 only
2. Consider the following pairs:
1. PARAM 8000 — 1 gigaflop
2. PARAM Yuva — 54 teraflops
3. NSM deployed capacity by September 2026 — 68 PF
4. NSM planned cumulative capacity — More than 123 PF
How many of the pairs given above are correctly matched?
(a) Only one
(b) Only two
(c) Only three
(d) All four
3. With reference to the “Build Approach” under NSM, which of the following constitute its three concurrent phases?
1. Assembly
2. Manufacturing
3. Design and manufacturing support
4. Import substitution through foreign procurement
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 1, 2 and 3 only
(c) 2, 3 and 4 only
(d) 1, 3 and 4 only
4. As of September 2026, consider the following distribution of supercomputers deployed under NSM:
1. 13 systems exceeding 1 PF
2. 12 systems between 500 TF and 1 PF
3. 15 systems below 500 TF
Which of the following is correct?
(a) Only one statement is correct
(b) Only two statements are correct
(c) All three statements are correct
(d) None of the statements is correct
5. With reference to FLOPS, consider the following statements:
1. FLOPS stands for Floating Point Operations Per Second.
2. One teraFLOPS represents one trillion calculations per second.
3. One petaFLOPS represents one quadrillion calculations per second.
4. The world’s fastest supercomputer in 2026 was stated to achieve around 2.19 exaflops.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) 1, 2, 3 and 4
(b) 1, 2 and 3 only
(c) 2, 3 and 4 only
(d) 1 and 4 only
6. Which of the following applications are specifically associated with NSM?
1. Computational biology
2. Weather prediction
3. Astrophysics
4. Seismic imaging
5. Computational chemistry
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1, 2 and 3 only
(b) 2, 3, 4 and 5 only
(c) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5
(d) 1 and 5 only
7. Consider the following statements:
Statement-I:
The Early Warning System for Flood Prediction under NSM can forecast floods up to two days in advance.
Statement-II:
It has been applied to the Mahanadi River basin using data analysis and predictive models.
Which one of the following is correct?
(a) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, and Statement-II explains Statement-I
(b) Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
(c) Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
(d) Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct
8. With reference to the Forest Fire Spread Model, consider the following statements:
1. It combines satellite remote sensing with computational modelling.
2. It has been tested in regions such as the Sikkim Himalayas.
3. It is primarily designed for seismic imaging of underground structures.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
9. NSM contributes to how many United Nations Sustainable Development Goals through its applications and associated activities?
(a) 9
(b) 10
(c) 11
(d) 12
10. Consider the following statements regarding the Rudra Series of servers:
1. They were indigenously designed and developed by C-DAC.
2. Their technology has been transferred to Indian Electronics Manufacturing Services partners for manufacturing.
3. They provide processing capability for complex calculations and simulations.
4. They are used exclusively for weather forecasting.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) 1 and 4 only
(b) 1, 2 and 3 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
11. With reference to PARAM Rudra, consider the following statements:
1. It uses indigenously designed and manufactured Rudra servers.
2. It uses an indigenous system software stack.
3. As of September 2026, 6,000 Rudra servers had been deployed.
4. Another 1,500 Rudra servers were under manufacturing.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) 1, 2 and 3 only
(b) 2, 3 and 4 only
(c) 1, 2, 3 and 4
(d) 1 and 4 only
12. Which of the following indigenous technologies were developed under NSM?
1. High-speed interconnect networks
2. Indigenous cooling technology
3. Complete HPC system software stack
4. PARAM Shavak
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 1, 3 and 4 only
(c) 2 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
13. Consider the following pairs:
1. High-speed interconnect network — 100 Gbps and 200 Gbps
2. PARAM Shavak — Supercomputing-in-a-box
3. National Knowledge Network — High-speed connectivity among supercomputing facilities
4. PARAM Rudra — Indigenous servers with indigenous system software stack
How many of the pairs given above are correctly matched?
(a) All four
(b) Only three
(c) Only two
(d) Only one
14. With reference to the human-resource and research outcomes of NSM as of September 2026, consider the following statements:
1. More than 16,000 researchers had been supported.
2. More than 2,900 PhD scholars had benefited.
3. More than 400 institutions had been covered.
4. More than 1.5 crore compute jobs had been executed.
5. More than 1,990 research publications had been contributed to.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) 1, 2 and 3 only
(b) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5
(c) 2, 3, 4 and 5 only
(d) 1, 4 and 5 only
15. With reference to the National Knowledge Network (NKN), consider the following statements:
1. It serves as the backbone of the supercomputing ecosystem under NSM.
2. It connects supercomputing facilities across academic and research institutions through a high-speed national network.
3. It enables remote access to computing resources and collaboration across locations.
4. Its role is limited only to physical installation of supercomputers.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1, 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
0 comment