MeitY Launches PARAM SHAKTI Supercomputing Facility at IIT Madras

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has launched ‘PARAM SHAKTI’, a powerful new supercomputing facility at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras). The facility was inaugurated on January 3, 2026, by MeitY Secretary Shri S. Krishnan.

This centre hosts the PARAM RUDRA system, an indigenously built supercomputer developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) under the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM).

What is PARAM SHAKTI?

PARAM SHAKTI is powered by the PARAM RUDRA supercomputing cluster. It has a peak performance of 3.1 petaflops, which means it can perform over 3.1 quadrillion calculations every second.

The entire system is made in India and runs on open-source software like AlmaLinux along with C-DAC’s own system software. It also has advanced facilities such as:

• Uninterrupted power supply
• Modern cooling systems
• Full data centre infrastructure

These features allow the system to work continuously for heavy research tasks.

How will it Help Research?

This supercomputer will support research in many important fields, including:

• Aerospace engineering
• Materials science
• Climate and weather modelling
• Combustion studies
• Molecular science
• Nuclear research
• Drug discovery

With such high computing power, scientists can run large simulations. This reduces the need for long and costly experiments and helps complete research faster.

At IIT Madras, researchers are already using the system for work ranging from sub-atomic level calculations to large structural and system-level studies.

Why IIT Madras was Chosen?

IIT Madras has been selected as the host institution under the National Supercomputing Mission. During the launch, Shri S. Krishnan highlighted that researchers from many departments will use this facility, showing the growing interdisciplinary use of high-performance computing.

He also shared that 37 supercomputing systems have already been installed across India under NSM, with more to come.

Supporting India’s AI and Tech Future

According to MeitY, PARAM SHAKTI supports the goals of the IndiaAI Mission. It promotes the use of different computing architectures instead of depending on a single technology. This gives researchers exposure to multiple GPU platforms and strengthens India’s long-term computing ecosystem.

The government is also providing dedicated funding for application-driven projects to ensure these powerful systems are used effectively for research and innovation.