CHENNAI: India’s push for technological self-reliance took a decisive step forward on Thursday with the launch of Param Shakti, a 3.1-petaflop indigenously built supercomputing facility at Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M). The system was inaugurated by S Krishnan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), under the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM).

Built entirely in India using Centre for Development of Advanced Computing’s RUDRA series of servers and powered by open-source software, Param Shakti can execute over 3.1 quadrillion calculations per second, placing it among the most powerful computing facilities in Indian academia. The system has been funded under the NSM, jointly steered by MeitY and the Department of Science and Technology.

The facility is designed to support cutting-edge research across aerospace engineering, climate modelling, advanced materials, combustion studies, nuclear sciences and drug discovery, where large-scale simulations are increasingly replacing time-consuming and costly experimental trials. Operational since May 2025, Param Shakti has already recorded over 80 per cent utilisation, underlining strong demand from the research community.

Addressing students and faculty, Krishnan noted IIT-M’s growing interdisciplinary strength and said the Mission was backing application-driven research at a scale that delivers real impact. With 37 supercomputers already deployed nationwide and more in the pipeline, including a flagship system planned for Bengaluru, he said India’s research ecosystem was being significantly strengthened. He also highlighted the IndiaAI Mission’s strategy of supporting multiple GPU architectures to avoid technological dependence.

V Kamakoti, Director of IIT-M, emphasised the need for energy-efficient, secure and resource-sharing software, while E Magesh, Director General, C-DAC traced it’s journey in building indigenous high-performance computing platforms.