Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, September 26, launched three PARAM Rudra supercomputers. The computers are developed indigenously under the National Supercomputing Mission. The initiative marks a great step in the country’s weather and climate research capabilities. The super computers will be placed at Kolkata, Pune and Delhi.

“India takes significant step towards self-reliance in computing and driving innovation in science and tech,” the PM posted on X.

“These supercomputers will go a long way in ensuring that India’s scientists have access to state-of-the-art facilities,” PM Modi said, adding, “The three supercomputers launched today will help in advanced research from physics, earth science, and cosmology.”

“These supercomputers, built at a cost of ₹130 crore, have been deployed in three citires namely, Pune, Delhi and Kolkata to facilitate pioneering scientific research”, Modi said, addressing scientists and others via video conferencing.

“To instill scientific temperaments in young minds, 10,000 Atal Tinkering Labs have been set up in schools, he further informed. Additionally, scholarships for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) have also been increased. In this year’s budget, a research fund of Rs 1 lakh crore has been announced so that India empowers the 21st century world,” PM Modi added.

What is the Param Rudra

Named after Lord Shiva, the 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.

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.

Moreover, these systems have applications in the real world. They may be beneficial to numerous industries, including for space exploration, disaster relief, and agriculture.

PM’s drive for self reliance

“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. 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.