🚀 Powering India's Future: The Story and Vision of the National Supercomputing Mission

Uttam Sharma
4 days ago
2 min read

✨ A STEAM Journey through India's Supercomputing Landscape

From decoding cosmic mysteries to powering climate models and AI innovations, supercomputers have become essential engines of modern science. In India, this journey has been transformative—combining Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM)—to shape a self-reliant, future-ready digital nation.

🧠 Tracing the Journey: From PARAM 8000 to AIRAWAT

India’s supercomputing journey began in 1991 with the launch of PARAM 8000 by C-DAC, defying technology denial regimes and establishing our independence in high-performance computing.

🕰️ Full Timeline of Key Milestones

Year	Milestone	Description
1991	PARAM 8000	First Indian supercomputer; peak 1 GFLOPS. Built indigenously by C-DAC.
1995	PARAM 9000	Enhanced performance; widely used in academic and defense sectors.
1998	PARAM 10000	Crossed 100 GFLOPS. Step into global computing race.
2002	PARAM Padma	First Indian system to cross 1 teraflop and enter TOP500 list.
2007	EKA (Tata)	Ranked 4th fastest globally; showed private sector capabilities.
2015	Launch of NSM	Vision to build 70+ supercomputers with Indian hardware & software.
2019	PARAM Shivay	First NSM-era system; deployed at IIT-BHU.
2020–2022	PARAM Brahma, Sanganak, Pravega	High-performance academic computing clusters across India.
2023	AIRAWAT	India’s fastest AI supercomputer, at C-DAC Pune, ranked 75th globally.
Ongoing	Trinetra Network	A 100–200 Gbps national backbone linking HPC nodes.

🏗️ The National Supercomputing Mission (NSM): A Transformative Vision

Launched in 2015 by the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST), and implemented by C-DAC and IISc Bengaluru, NSM aims to:

Install 73+ indigenous supercomputers across academia, research, and industry.
Develop Indian processors, software stacks, and interconnects.
Train 20,000+ engineers and researchers in high-performance computing (HPC).
Foster a nationally connected grid for scientific, social, and economic transformation.

🌐 Present Status: Where Are We Today?

Over 33 supercomputers deployed till 2024, including AI-focused systems.
PARAM Pravega and AIRAWAT now power top research in AI, fluid mechanics, quantum computing, climate modeling, and more.
NSM extended to December 2025, ensuring continued investment in self-reliant supercomputing infrastructure.

🔭 Vision for the Future: More Than Just Machines

India’s supercomputing mission is not just about performance benchmarks—it’s about empowering our youth, researchers, and industries to tackle 21st-century grand challenges:

🌎 Climate modeling and disaster risk prediction
🧠 Artificial Intelligence and Generative AI
🧬 Bioinformatics and drug discovery
💧 Fluid dynamics for engineering and urban planning
🚀 Space and satellite data analysis
🏥 Personalized medicine and health diagnostics

This is a STEAM revolution—blending technical innovation with creativity and human impact.

🔊 A Call to Action: For the Next Generation and Private Innovators

While the government has laid a strong foundation, India now needs its young minds, startups, and private industries to take this mission forward. Here’s how:

🔹 Startups in AI, climate-tech, quantum computing, and genomics can use supercomputing as a launchpad.

🔹 Private tech companies should invest in indigenous processor and cooling tech R&D.

🔹 STEAM educators and institutions must introduce students to HPC early through training and open-access clusters.

🌱 Final Thought

India's supercomputing journey is not just a national story—it's a collective aspiration to lead the world in computing for good. Whether you're a student, researcher, policymaker, or entrepreneur, the National Supercomputing Mission invites you to contribute to the next chapter.

💡 Because the future isn’t just coded—it’s computed.