UPSC Margin
NotesTestsDaily CACSAT
UPSC Margin

Analytical concept notes, daily current affairs, and mock tests for serious UPSC aspirants.

Learn

  • Notes
  • Daily Current Affairs
  • Mock Tests
  • CSAT
  • Strategy Guide

Resources

  • About
  • Pricing
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • RSS Feed

Support

  • Help & FAQ
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Telegram Community

© 2026 UPSC Margin. All rights reserved.

Operated by Satyam Raj · hello@upscmargin.com

Back to Notes
Science & TechFree till Sep 9

Supercomputers in India: PARAM, AI Supercomputing, and Global Rankings

July 19, 2026

Introduction

A supercomputer is a computer with exceptional processing power, capable of performing billions to trillions of calculations per second (FLOPS — Floating Point Operations Per Second). Supercomputers are critical for scientific research, weather forecasting, defence simulations, drug discovery, and artificial intelligence. India's journey in supercomputing began with the PARAM series in the 1980s and has accelerated under the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM).

Evolution of Supercomputers in India

Phase 1: The PARAM Era (1980s–1990s)

  • 1988: PARAM 8000 — India's first supercomputer, developed by C-DAC under Dr. Vijay Bhatkar.
  • 1991: PARAM 8600 — Upgraded performance with 128 nodes.
  • 1998: PARAM 10000 — Achieved 100 GigaFLOPS, marking India's entry into teraflop computing.
  • Significance: Built after US denied export of Cray supercomputers, demonstrating indigenous capability.

Phase 2: Distributed Supercomputing (2000–2010)

  • PARAM Padma (2002): 1 TeraFLOPS, ranked among top 100 globally.
  • EKA (2007): Built by Tata Group, achieved 117 TeraFLOPS, ranked 4th globally at debut.
  • PARAM Yuva (2008): 54 TeraFLOPS, focused on academic research.

Phase 3: National Supercomputing Mission (2015–Present)

  • Launched: 2015, jointly by Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) and Department of Science and Technology (DST).
  • Implementing Agencies: C-DAC and IISc.
  • Goal: Build a network of 70+ supercomputers across India with aggregate capacity of 16 PetaFLOPS.
  • Budget: ₹4,500 crore.

Major Indian Supercomputers in 2025–26

NameLocationCapacity (PetaFLOPS)Use
PARAM Siddhi-AIC-DAC, Pune5.267AI, deep learning, HPC
PARAM Pravega

Read Next

More in Science & Tech

5G and 6G Technology: Features and India's Rollout

Artificial Intelligence: Applications, Ethics, and India's AI Strategy

Artificial Intelligence is reshaping global economies, and India is positioning itself as a significant AI player. This note covers AI applications in healthcare, agriculture, governance, and defence, ethical concerns including algorithmic bias, privacy, and job displacement, and India's AI strategy — INDIAai platform, NITI Aayog's national AI strategy (#AIforAll), the Bhashini language AI initiative, and the Global Partnership on AI (GPAI).

AstroSat and India's Space Observatories

IISc, Bengaluru
3.3
Academic research
PARAM UtkarshIIT Gandhinagar0.838Academic research
PARAM GangaIIT Roorkee1.6Research & education
PARAM PorulNIT Trichy0.672Academic research
PARAM Vikram-100PRL, Ahmedabad0.100Space research

AI Supercomputing in India

  • AIRAWAT (AI Research, Analytics and WAtson Trillion): India's largest AI supercomputer at C-DAC Pune, with 5.267 PetaFLOPS peak performance.
  • Uses: Natural language processing, computer vision, drug discovery, climate modelling.
  • AI for All: Ministry of Education's initiative to integrate AI training in higher education institutions.
  • IndiaAI Mission (2024): Rs. 10,372 crore outlay to build AI computing infrastructure with 10,000+ GPUs.

Global Rankings (Top 500 List, 2025–26)

India's Position

  • India has 4–5 systems in the global TOP 500.
  • PARAM Siddhi-AI ranked ~62nd globally (Nov 2024).
  • PARAM Pravega ranked ~135th.
  • Top 3 globally: El Capitan (USA) ~1.7 ExaFLOPS, Frontier (USA) ~1.35 ExaFLOPS, Fugaku (Japan) ~0.44 ExaFLOPS.

Global Leaders

CountryCount in Top 500Leading System
USA~170El Capitan (1.7 EF)
China~160Tianhe-3 (~1 EF)
Japan~30Fugaku (0.44 EF)
Germany~25JUWELS Booster
India~5PARAM Siddhi-AI

Applications of Supercomputers in India

1. Weather and Climate Modelling

  • IMD uses supercomputers for high-resolution weather prediction and cyclone tracking.
  • IITM, Pune runs the Monsoon Mission model on PARAM systems.

2. Drug Discovery and Healthcare

  • COVID-19 vaccine research used PARAM Siddhi-AI for molecular docking simulations.
  • Protein folding and genomics research at IISc and C-DAC.

3. Space Research (ISRO)

  • Rocket trajectory simulations and launch vehicle design.
  • Satellite data processing and Chandrayaan mission simulations.

4. Defence and Strategic Applications

  • Nuclear weapons simulations (stockpile stewardship).
  • Cryptography and code-breaking.

5. AI and Deep Learning

  • Large language model training (Bhashini, other Indic LLMs).
  • AI-driven agricultural advisory and soil analysis.

Challenges

  • High Cost: Procurement and maintenance costs are significant (₹500–700 crore per PetaFLOPS system).
  • Indigenous Manufacturing: Limited domestic production of high-performance processors and GPUs.
  • HPC Talent Gap: Shortage of skilled personnel in parallel programming and HPC system management.
  • Energy Consumption: Supercomputers require massive cooling infrastructure and electricity.
  • Import Dependency: Critical components like high-end GPUs (NVIDIA) are imported.

Conclusion

India has made remarkable progress in supercomputing, from the pioneering PARAM series to the AI-focused AIRAWAT. The National Supercomputing Mission aims to make India self-reliant in high-performance computing. However, bridging the gap with global leaders like the US and China requires increased investment, indigenous chip development, and focused human resource development.

UPSC Relevance

  • GS Paper 3: Science and Technology — developments in computing
  • GS Paper 2: Government policies and missions for technological self-reliance
  • Prelims: PARAM series, National Supercomputing Mission, Top 500 list