Pratyush (supercomputer)
| Company type | Supercomputing systems |
|---|---|
| Industry | High performance computing, Meteorology |
| Founded | January 8, 2018 |
| Headquarters | Pune and Noida , India |
| Products | Supercomputers for weather prediction and climate research |
| Owner | Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF) |
Pratyush and Mihir are advanced supercomputing systems located at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) in Pune and the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF) in Noida, respectively. As of January 2018, these represent the fastest supercomputers in India, delivering a combined peak performance of 6.8 PetaFlops, with a total expenditure of INR 438.9 Crore. The inauguration took place on 8 January 2018, officiated by Dr. Harsh Vardhan, the Union Minister for Science and Technology. The name 'Pratyush' () translates to "rising sun."
Functioning as a High Performance Computing (HPC) infrastructure, Pratyush and Mihir jointly provide a peak capacity of 6.8 PetaFlops, making it India's inaugural multi-PetaFlops supercomputing setup. Pratyush delivers 4.0 PetaFlops at IITM Pune, whereas Mihir offers 2.8 PetaFlops at NCMRWF Noida.
These HPC platforms bolster India's capabilities in weather prediction and climate observation, improving forecasts related to monsoons, fisheries, air quality, and severe phenomena such as tsunamis, cyclones, earthquakes, lightning, floods, and droughts. Globally, India is the fourth nation to deploy a dedicated HPC system for weather and climate research after Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
History
India's High Performance Computing (HPC) capacity grew from 40 TeraFlops in 2008 to reaching 1 PetaFlops by 2013–14; however, its position in global HPC rankings remained modest. In 2017, the Indian Government sanctioned funding of 400 crore Rupees to develop a supercomputer with a target capacity of 10 PetaFlops. Under the guidance of Suryachandra A Rao at IITM Pune, engineers constructed Pratyush in 2018 with an investment close to 450 crore Rupees.
The deployment of Pratyush and Mihir is part of India's strategy to advance from the 165th rank into the top 30 on the worldwide Top500 supercomputer list.