The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) has plans this year to install its compact supercomputing system, Param Shavak, in about 50 educational and research institutes. The system has already been set up at 25 institutes. Param Shavak was launched in December 2014. The first such supercomputer was installed at the PSG College of Technology in Coimbatore.

C-DAC, which is the premier R&D organisation of the Department of Electronics and Information Technology, has termed the system 'supercomputer in a box'. It seeks to make supercomputing accessible for scientific, engineering and academic programmes.

"The Param Shavak has been very well accepted and we intend to do another 50 such installations in 2016. This would not be restricted only to India and we will try and tap markets like Myanmar and Bangladesh as well," director-general Rajat Moona said.

Param Shavak is available in a single server table top model. It aims to provide high performance computing capabilities for engineering and scientific applications to catalyse research using modelling, simulation and data analysis.

Meanwhile, the C-DAC is working with Intel to train people to work on the planned supercomputer, which is to be built as part of the National Supercomputing Mission (NSM).

Over the seven-year duration of the mission when it will be in force, 20,000 people need to be trained and so far C-DAC has trained 3,000. It might look at taking help of colleges and top institutions to meet the needs.

China and India were identified by Intel as those with the ability to build a supercomputer, and China has already done that.