Param Shakti: Powering India’s Scientific Future with a New Supercomputing Milestone at IIT Madras
The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) has ushered in a new era for advanced scientific research in the country with the launch of Param Shakti, a cutting-edge, indigenous supercomputing facility that marks a significant milestone in India’s technological landscape. Officially inaugurated on January 3, 2026, by S. Krishnan, Secretary of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), this state-of-the-art system is more than just a high-performance computer — it’s a powerful enabler for complex research across science, engineering and data-intensive domains.
Param Shakti, developed under the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM) — a coordinated initiative led by MeitY and the Department of Science and Technology (DST) — is powered by the indigenous PARAM RUDRA supercomputing cluster designed and manufactured in India by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC). This facility exemplifies the nation’s deepening commitment to technological self-reliance, bringing to life decades of work in building domestic high-performance compute infrastructure rooted in Indian innovation and engineering.
At its heart, Param Shakti delivers a peak computing capacity of 3.1 petaflops, meaning it can perform over 3.1 quadrillion calculations every second — a scale of performance that places it among the most powerful academic supercomputers in the country. The system runs on open-source software including AlmaLinux and an entirely Indian system software stack developed by C-DAC. This choice further reinforces India’s strategic direction toward open, transparent, and sovereign digital infrastructure.
The creation and commissioning of Param Shakti carry deep implications for research and innovation. Traditional scientific discovery and engineering development often demand vast computational resources for modelling, simulation, optimisation and data analysis — tasks that could otherwise take years of manual experimentation. With Param Shakti, researchers at IIT Madras and other institutions can run large-scale simulations efficiently, accelerating breakthroughs in fields as diverse as aerospace engineering, materials science, climate modelling, drug discovery, and combustion and nuclear sciences. Already operational since May 2025, the facility has seen impressive utilisation rates, reflecting strong demand and wide interest within the research community.
During the launch, MeitY Secretary S. Krishnan highlighted that India’s approach under the NSM — and related initiatives like the IndiaAI Mission — is to avoid reliance on any single technology or hardware architecture. By enabling access to multiple GPU systems and diverse computing platforms, the government aims to cultivate a research ecosystem where innovators and scientists gain broad exposure and mastery over various high-performance computing environments. This, he said, will bolster India’s long-term resilience and competitiveness in cutting-edge computing and AI research.
The significance of Param Shakti extends beyond raw computing power. It represents a deliberate shift toward indigenous capability, aligning with India’s broader goals of self-reliance (“Atmanirbhar Bharat”) in critical technology domains. The system’s infrastructure — including uninterrupted power supply, advanced cooling systems and energy-efficient data centre practices — reflects careful planning to support continuous, high-volume research workloads while minimizing operational overhead.
IIT Madras, as the host institution, stands poised to leverage this extraordinary resource across its interdisciplinary research ecosystem. Faculty and students alike are expected to use Param Shakti to push the boundaries of computational science, modelling phenomena that span from the sub-atomic to the planetary scale. Directors and senior researchers emphasise the importance of writing energy-efficient code and optimised GPU resource sharing to take full advantage of the supercomputer’s capabilities.
Param Shakti’s launch also forms part of a larger national picture: under the National Supercomputing Mission, 37 supercomputers have now been deployed across Indian institutions, with additional installations planned — including an upcoming flagship system in Bengaluru. Together, these computing assets are transforming India’s research infrastructure and positioning the country more prominently on the global scientific computing map.
In the years to come, the Param Shakti facility at IIT Madras is expected not only to speed up discovery and innovation but also to strengthen collaborations across disciplines, support academic leadership, and contribute significantly to India’s emergence as a global hub for high-performance computing research.