Lok Sabha Question No. 381 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-11-27
Subject: National Supercomputing Mission
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Shri Vamsi Krishna Gaddam

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 381

TO BE ANSWERED ON 27.11.2024

## NATIONAL SUPERCOMPUTING MISSION

## 381.     SHRI VAMSI KRISHNA GADDAM:

Will the Minister of Electronics and Information Technology be pleased to state:

- (a)    the  current  total  computing  capacity  achieved  under  the  National  Supercomputing  Mission  (NSM) including contributions from recent installations like PARAM Rudra in Delhi, Pune and Kolkata;
- (b)   the details of supercomputer installations under NSM, State and department-wise;
- (c)  whether the Government is on track to meet NSM objectives by the 2024 deadline despite previous extensions and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (d)    the  status  of  India's  global  standing  in  supercomputing  in  comparison  with  all  other  countries following recent installations; and
- (e)    the  details  of  international  collaborations,  if  any,  aimed  at  advancing  India's  supercomputing capabilities?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI JITIN PRASADA)

(a) to (e): The National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) was initiated in April 2015 by the Government of India  with  a  budget  outlay  of  Rs.4,500  crore  for  seven  years.  Its  vision  is  to  achieve  self-reliance  and global  leadership  in  supercomputing  by  giving  access  of  State-of-the-Art  supercomputing  facilities  to researchers, addressing grand challenges, optimizing investments, and enhancing global competitiveness in key areas of supercomputing technologies.

The  NSM  is  being  jointly  implemented  by  the  Ministry  of  Electronics  and  Information  Technology (MeitY) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST). MeitY  and DST are implementing this initiative through Centre for Development of Advanced Computing(C-DAC), Pune and Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru. The mission is currently extended till December, 2025.

## Self-Reliance in Supercomputing

Under the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM), an ecosystem has been established with the focused goal of achieving self-reliance in supercomputing, encompassing the design, development, and manufacturing  of  supercomputers,  as  well  as  the  creation  of  a  complete  system  software  stack  and associated applications.

India  has  now  the  capability  of  designing,  developing  and  manufacturing  supercomputing  technologies indigenously,  which  will  reduce  dependency  on  imports  of  supercomputing  technologies  from  other countries.  This  approach  is  in  line  with  the  Hon'ble  Prime  Minister's  vision  of  "India's  mantra  is Atmanirbharta (self-reliance) through research, Science for Self-Reliance."

Hon'ble  Prime  Minister  Shri  Narendra  Modi  on  26 th September,  2024  dedicated  three  PARAM  Rudra supercomputers to the young researchers, scientists and engineers of nation facilitating advanced studies in physics,  earth  sciences,  and  cosmology.  These  supercomputers  have  been  deployed  in  Pune,  Delhi  and Kolkata to facilitate pioneering scientific  research. Giant Metre Radio Telescope (GMRT- 1Petaflop) in Pune will leverage the  supercomputer to explore astronomical  phenomena. Inter-University  Accelerator Centre  (IUAC-  3  Petaflops)  in  Delhi  will  enhance  research  in  fields  like  material  science  and  atomic physics. S.N. Bose Centre for Basic Sciences (S.N. Bose- 838 Teraflops) in Kolkata will drive advanced research  in  areas  such  as  physics,  cosmology,  and  earth  sciences.  It  is  worth  reiterating  that  all  these systems have been designed, developed and manufactured entirely within the country.

PARAM  Rudra  supercomputers are built using indigenously designed and manufactured HighPerformance  Computing  servers,  known  as  "Rudra',  along  with  an  indigenously  developed  system software stack. 'Rudra' Server is the first of its kind in India which at par with globally available other HPC class Servers. These servers are being manufactured in India by local manufacturers boosting local electronics industries.

## Empowering Researchers with State-of-the-Art Indigenous Supercomputers

With the commissioning of three PARAM Rudra supercomputers, as of 21 st November 2024, a total of 33 supercomputers with a combined compute capacity of 32 Petaflops, have been deployed across various academic institutions,  research  organizations,  and  R&D  labs,  including  prominent  institutions  like  IISc, IITs,  C-DAC,  and  other  institutions  from  Tier-II  and  Tier  III  cities  of  the  country  under  NSM.  These supercomputers facilitate over 10,000 researchers, including more than 1,700 PhD scholars from over 200 academic institutions  and  R&D  labs  across  the  country.  NSM  has  created  opportunities  for  researchers from Tier II and Tier III cities to conduct research by providing access to State-of-the-Art supercomputing facilities.  These  researchers  have  completed  over  1  crore  compute  jobs  and  published  more  than  1,200 papers in leading national and international journals.

Notably, Researchers from IISc have won the highly prestigious Gordon Bell Prize at the Supercomputing Conference  2023,  awarded  by  the  Association  for  Computing  Machinery  (ACM)  for  exceptional achievements  in  High  Performance  Computing  (HPC).  The  research,  focused  on  large-scale  materials modeling  with  very  high  accuracy,  was  conducted  using  the  NSM  machine,  Param  Pravega,  at  IISc. Additionally, more than 22,000 individuals have been trained in HPC and AI skills. Start-ups and MSMEs are leveraging these supercomputing resources to advance their HPC-driven projects.

These  supercomputers  are  driving  groundbreaking  research  across  various  fields,  including  disaster management,  climate  modeling,  drug  discovery,  astronomical  research,  and  materials  science.  Also, India's weather forecasting capabilities will improve, enabling more accurate and hyper-local predictions. These  technologies  will  empower  farmers  with  critical  knowledge  for  better  crop  decisions  and  assist fishermen by reducing risks. By fostering innovative solutions to real-world challenges, supercomputers contribute to economic growth and societal progress, enhancing quality of life through advancements in science and technology.

India's growing supercomputing infrastructure is reflected in its inclusion in the Top500 list of the world's fastest supercomputers. The following are the current rankings of India's supercomputers as per the latest list of TOP500 Supercomputers announced in Supercomputing Conference 2024 (SC24) in November, 2024. The list of TOP500 Supercomputers is published at https://top500.org/lists/top500/list/2024/11/

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|   Rank | Name of Supercomputer   | Institution                                                                |   Rmax PF |   Rpeak PF |
|--------|-------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------|------------|
|    136 | AIRAWAT-PSAI            | C-DAC, Pune, Maharashtra                                                   |      8.5  |      13.17 |
|    188 | Arka                    | Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, Maharashtra                |      5.94 |       7.4  |
|    189 | Arunika                 | National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting, Noida, Uttar Pradesh |      5.94 |       7.4  |
|    270 | Pratyush                | Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, Maharashtra                |      3.76 |       4.01 |
|    402 | Arka AI/ML              | Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, Maharashtra                |      2.7  |       3.75 |
|    433 | Mihir                   | National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting, Noida, Uttar Pradesh |      2.57 |       2.81 |