Shri Kiren Rijiju, the Union Minister of Earth Sciences, announced that India will soon acquire its fastest supercomputer, worth Rs 900 crore, which is expected to be operational by March next year. During his visit to the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF) in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, the Minister highlighted that this acquisition will provide India with a weather monitoring mechanism featuring the highest resolution of probabilistic forecast.
The new supercomputer will enhance weather forecasting capabilities from the current 12-kilometer resolution to 6 kilometers. It will possess a capacity of 18 petaFLOPS (PFLOPS), almost three times the capability of India’s fastest supercomputer at present, the Cray XC-40 ‘Mihir’ with a performance of 6.8 PFLOPS. Shri Rijiju emphasized that the facilities at the NCMRWF will benefit all sectors and individuals throughout the country.
The Union Minister also noted the continuous improvement in India’s weather forecasting capabilities and highlighted the advancements made under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in the application of science and technology. India is extending weather forecasts to neighboring countries and beyond.
The NCMRWF, known as a leading institution in weather and climate modeling, is also home to the BIMSTEC Centre on Weather and Climate (BCWC) of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC). The BCWC involves seven member states, including five from South Asia (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka) and two from Southeast Asia (Myanmar and Thailand).
During his visit, Shri Rijiju was briefed by Dr. M. Ravichandran, Secretary of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Dr. V.S. Prasad, Head of NCMRWF, and other senior scientists. The Minister expressed his pride in NCMRWF’s status as a world-class center.