What are the Param Rudra supercomputers that India has developed?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday unveiled three indigenously developed Param Rudra supercomputers.

This marks a significant step in India’s push for scientific and technological advancement.

Here’s all we know about it.

The Param Rudra supercomputers

Param Rudra is a high-performance computing system made to process intricate calculations and simulations incredibly quickly.

These supercomputers are developed indigenously by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) under the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM), showcasing the country’s growing capabilities in developing advanced technologies domestically.

Built at a cost of Rs 130 crore, these three supercomputers have been deployed in Pune, Delhi and Kolkata to facilitate pioneering scientific research.

With Param Rudra Supercomputers and HPC system, India takes significant step towards self-reliance in computing and driving innovation in science and tech. https://t.co/ZUlM5EA3yw

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) September 26, 2024

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Features and applications

The Param Rudra supercomputers are poised to transform research across various domains.

The Giant Metre Radio Telescope (GMRT) in Pune will leverage the supercomputer to explore Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) and other astronomical phenomena.

The Param Brahmand system, which has several thousand Intel CPUs, 90 state-of-the-art NVIDIA A100 GPUs, 35 terabytes of memory, and two petabytes of storage, is expected to propel scientific study in time-domain astronomy to new heights and facilitate transformative advances in the discipline.

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The supercomputer at the Inter University Accelerator Centre (IUAC) in Delhi will support advances in atomic physics and material science research, resulting in breakthroughs in these vital domains.

The SN Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences in Kolkata will leverage Param Rudra for advanced studies in physics, cosmology, and earth sciences. The supercomputer installed here has a capacity of 838 terraflops, as per Indian Express.

Moreover, these systems have practical applications outside of the realm of science.

They may be beneficial to numerous industries, including space exploration, disaster relief, and agriculture. For example, better weather forecasts can assist farmers in making knowledgeable decisions regarding crop management.

A step towards technological self-reliance

India is making great strides towards technical self-reliance by creating these supercomputers domestically. This is in line with the nation’s overarching objectives of emerging as a worldwide centre for technical innovation and science.

“With Param Rudra supercomputers and HPC systems, India takes a significant step towards self-reliance in computing and driving innovation in science and tech. Today is a day of very big achievement in the science and technology sector,” PM Modi said during the launch.

“There is no sector that does not rely on technology and computing capability,” PM Modi said.

“In this revolution, our share should not be in bits and bytes but in terabytes and petabytes. Therefore, this achievement proves that we are moving in the right direction at the right pace,” he said.

These supercomputers will enable young scientists to access state-of-the-art technology, stimulating innovation and research in vital fields.

HPC systems launched

PM Modi also inaugurated the Rs 850 crore high-performance computing system tailored for weather and climate research and described the day as one of a “very big achievement” in the science and technology sector.

The High-Performance Computing (HPC) system is tailored for weather and climate research, and the project represents an investment of ₹850 crore, marking a significant leap in India’s computational capabilities for meteorological applications.

Located at two key sites, the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) in Pune and the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecast (NCMRWF) in Noida, the HPC system has extraordinary computing power, as per PTI.

The new HPC systems are named ‘Arka’ and ‘Arunika,’ reflecting their connection to the Sun.

These high-resolution models will significantly enhance the accuracy and lead time of predictions related to tropical cyclones, heavy precipitation, thunderstorms, hailstorms, heat waves, droughts, and other critical weather phenomena.

About NSM

The National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) was launched in 2015 to connect national academic and research and development institutions with a layout of high-performance computing facilities.

It is jointly managed by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY). The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru and the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) in Pune are in charge of its implementation.

The purpose is to build a strong national supercomputing capability and provide strong computational facilities to support research. According to Indian Express, the mission’s primary goals are:

• Establish India as a global leader in HPC and strengthen the country’s capacity to address big challenges of both domestic and international significance.

• Provide cutting-edge computing resources to scientists and researchers so they can do innovative studies in their respective fields.

• Minimise redundancies and steer clear of redundant investments and attempts.

• Establish an ecosystem to help India become a supercomputing powerhouse, become globally competitive, and become self-sufficient in HPC.

The mission was divided into three stages: phase I focused on supercomputer assembly; phase II examined domestic manufacturing of specific components; and phase III involved the design of a supercomputer by India.

With inputs from agencies