National Supercomputing Mission

• 15 Dec 2025

For Prelims: National Supercomputing Mission (NSM), Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), AIRAWAT, Monsoon, Pratyush, Genome Sequencing, Protein Folding, Semiconductors, Nanomaterials. 

For Mains: Key features of National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) and various achievements under it. Applications of high-performance computing (HPC).

Source: ET

Why in News?

India is targeting complete indigenisation of its high-performance computing (HPC) systems by 2030, with indigenous content already reaching 50% and expected to exceed 70% by the decade's end.

• The country aims to deploy 90 petaflops (PF) of computing capacity under the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) by March 2026.

Summary

• India’s NSM aims to build indigenous high-performance computing (HPC) capacity, targeting near-complete indigenisation by 2030. 
• Key achievements: Rudra server, Trinetra network, AIRAWAT AI supercomputer. NSM 2.0 targets indigenous CPUs/GPUs and exascale computing with ISM for strategic autonomy.

What is the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM)?

• About: NSM was launched in 2015 as a flagship initiative by the Government of India to empower the country with high-performance computing capabilities.
  • Jointly steered by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), implemented by Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Pune and Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.
• Objectives:
  • Self-Reliance: Achieve indigenous supercomputing design, development, and manufacturing.
  • Research & Accessibility: Promote supercomputing for R&D and make it accessible to scientific and technology communities nationwide.
  • National Relevance: Develop applications of national importance through academic, R&D, and government institutions.
• Three-Phase Strategic Implementation:
  • Phase I: Focused on creating basic supercomputing infrastructure by installing six supercomputers across various institutions with significant domestic assembly; aimed to build an ecosystem for component assembly within the country.
  • Phase II: Moved towards indigenous manufacturing of supercomputers, including developing a local software stack; achieved 40% value addition from India.
  • Phase III: Focuses on complete indigenization including design, development, and manufacturing of key components within India.
• Indigenous Technology Development under NSM:
  • Trinetra Network: C-DAC developed indigenous high-speed communication network Trinetra to enhance data transfer and communication between computing nodes.
    
    • Trinetra-POC: Proof-of-concept (POC) system to validate key concepts.
    • Trinetra-A: 100 Gigabits per second network, successfully deployed and tested in 1 petaflop (PF) PARAM Rudra at C-DAC Pune.
      • PF means a computer can perform one quadrillion (10¹⁵) floating-point operations per second.
    • Trinetra-B: 200 Gigabits per second upgraded version, set for deployment in the 20PF PARAM Rudra supercomputer at C-DAC Bangalore.
    • Rudra Server: First indigenously designed and manufactured HPC server Rudra along with indigenously developed system software stack — first of its kind in India at par with globally available HPC-class servers.
• Major Installations:
  • PARAM Rudra (2024): Prime Minister dedicated three PARAM Rudra supercomputers deployed in Pune, Delhi, and Kolkata, facilitating advanced studies in physics, earth sciences, and cosmology.
  • PARAM Pravega (2022): Installed at Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru with 3.3 petaflops computing power — the largest supercomputer in an Indian academic institution.
  • PARAM Shivay (2019): NSM's first indigenously built supercomputer inaugurated by Prime Minister at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) BHU, Varanasi.
• Achievements:
  
  • Infrastructure Scale: Total of 34 supercomputers with combined compute capacity of 35 petaflops deployed across academic institutions, research organizations, and R&D labs including IISc, IITs, C-DAC, and institutions from Tier-II and Tier-III cities.
  • Utilization Efficiency: Supercomputing systems achieved overall utilization rate of over 85%, with many systems exceeding 95%, demonstrating high efficiency in computational capacity.
  • Human Resource Development: Five training centers established at Pune, Kharagpur, Chennai, Palakkad, and Goa to expand awareness and familiarization of supercomputing. 
    • More than 22,000 individuals trained in HPC and AI skills, developing highly professional HPC-aware human resources.

AIRAWAT AI Computing Platform

• About: Government-initiated project AIRAWAT provides a common compute platform for AI research and knowledge assimilation.
• User Base: Used by Technology Innovation Hubs, research labs, scientific community, industry, start-ups, and institutions under NKN.
• Technical Specifications: Proof of Concept developed with 200 petaflops mixed precision AI machine, scalable to peak compute of 790 AI petaflops.
• Global Recognition: Secured 75th position in Top 500 Global Supercomputing List at International Supercomputing Conference (ISC 2023), Germany, positioning India among top AI supercomputing nations worldwide.

What are the Key Applications of High Performance Computing (HPC) Systems in India?

Domain	Key Applications
Weather Forecasting and Climate Modeling	HPC powers high-resolution models for accurate monsoon predictions, and cyclone tracking. Pratyush, and Mihir can deliver resolutions up to 1 km, supporting disaster management.
Drug Discovery and Bioinformatics	Accelerates genome sequencing, protein folding, molecular dynamics, and virtual drug screening. e.g., Covid-19 modeling.
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning	Facilities like PARAM Siddhi-AI handle massive datasets for precision medicine and predictive analytics.
Material Science and Nanotechnology	Enable development of advanced materials, semiconductors, and nanomaterials, supporting self-reliance in electronics and manufacturing.
Defense and National Security	Supports strategic simulations, cybersecurity, and high-energy physics research for national security.
Other Emerging Areas	Supports renewable energy modeling, oil/gas exploration, and other large-scale system simulations.

Conclusion

India’s National Supercomputing Mission is strategically advancing indigenous HPC capabilities to achieve self-reliance, empower R&D across critical sectors, and secure a leading position in global supercomputing and artificial intelligence.

Drishti Mains Question:

Q. The National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) is pivotal to India’s strategic autonomy and technological advancement. Critically examine its progress in achieving indigenisation and its impact on scientific research and development.

 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What is the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM)?
NSM is a 2015 Government of India initiative to develop indigenous HPC systems, expand compute capacity, and strengthen national R&D through supercomputing infrastructure.

2. What is Trinetra in the context of NSM?
Trinetra is C-DAC’s indigenous high-speed interconnect network enabling 100–200 Gbps node communication, deployed in PARAM Rudra systems.

3. What is the AIRAWAT AI platform?
AIRAWAT is India’s national AI computer infrastructure, offering 200–790 petaflops for AI/ML research; it ranks 75th on the Top500 global supercomputing list.

UPSC Civil Services Examination, Previous Year Questions (PYQs)  

Prelims

Q. Which of the following statements is/are correct regarding National Innovation Foundation-India (NIF)? (2015)

1. NIF is an autonomous body of the Department of Science and Technology under the Central Government. 
2. NIF is an initiative to strengthen the highly advanced scientific research in India’s premier scientific institutions in collaboration with highly advanced foreign scientific institutions. 

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1 only 

(b) 2 only 

(c) Both 1 and 2 

(d) Neither 1 nor 2 

Ans: (a) 

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Mains

Q. What are the research and developmental achievements in applied biotechnology? How will these achievements help to uplift the poorer sections of society? (2021)

Q. Scientific research in Indian universities is declining because a career in science is not as attractive as are business professions, engineering or administration, and the universities are becoming consumer-oriented. Critically comment. (2014)