India Gearing Up for Big Supercomputing Expansion

AP govt vie for Microsoft and Amazon data centers to be set up in Vizag

The government has first proposed to allot 200 acres of land for a data centers cluster planned to be developed by Adani Group and it was almost approved by the cabinet. However, the proposal was dropped at the last minute with a view to pursue the big players that can add value to the city's stature in many ways.

By ET Government
August 26, 2020, 09:02 IST
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To give the much needed capital city stature and a cosmopolitan ambience to the newly designated executive capital, the Andhra Pradesh government is learnt to have initiated talks with the global IT and e-commerce giants Microsoft and Amazon respectively to set up their data centers in Visakhapatnam.

As Microsoft was already planning to set up its data in India, the chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is believed to have instructed the state's IT and industries departments to go out with the best offers to persuade the company to zero in on Visakhapatnam for their first such establishment in the country.

The presence of a data center of the global giant in Visakhapatnam will not only give a fillip to the shifting of capital from Amaravati region, but will also promise jobs to the local professionals in large numbers, the government sources said.

Another benefit the government is expecting is that it can utilize the services of Microsoft in setting up all networking and other technological support for all the departments in the new capital city. Currently Pie is providing technology support for government departments here.

As for Amazon, which has the world's largest e-commerce facility in Hyderabad, the AP government is making all out efforts to bring its web services operations center to Vizag. The officials involved in the first round of talks from the government side said the company responded positively and further discussions are going on.

In fact, the government has first proposed to allot 200 acres of land for a data centers cluster planned to be developed by Adani Group and it was almost approved by the cabinet. However, the proposal was dropped at the last minute with a view to pursue the big players that can add value to the city's stature in many ways.

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AP govt vie for Microsoft and Amazon data centers to be set up in Vizag - ET Telecom

Microsoft: The government has first proposed to allot 200 acres of land for a data centers cluster planned to be developed by Adani Group and it was almost approved by the cabinet. However, the proposal was dropped at the last minute with a view to pursue the big players that can add value to...
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Quantum plan will be ready in a few months; we aren’t irreversibly behind others: Prof Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, DST

By: Ishaan Gera
Published: August 10, 2020 2:00 AM

"Our investment is comparable to what Europeans and Americans are doing. We are not going sub-critical. China, for instance, started a year or two ago. But we are not irreversibly behind."
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Quantum technology is emerging and also very disruptive.

A fortnight ago, the US Department of Energy released its blueprint of a quantum internet; earlier this year one of its partnering Universities had set up a quantum loop to transfer protons. Close to Hague, Delft University researchers will be testing a similar project later this year. While India does not have any such groundbreaking research in the field, it is moving towards setting this up.

The FM, in her speech, announced setting up of a National Quantum Technology Mission with an investment of Rs 8,000 crore over five years. Prof Ashutosh Sharma, secretary, department of science and technology, in a conversation with Ishaan Gera, discusses the developments in the field of quantum technology, and how the government is moving towards creating a holistic ecosystem. Edited excerpts:

The US just announced a quantum loop and released a policy document on quantum internet. What has been our progress on quantum technology ?

Quantum technology is emerging and also very disruptive. Like all exponential technologies, it would expand rapidly. Department of Science and Technology had started an initiative on quantum technology in 2018. In this, we first did a mapping of researchers in the country. To see who is working on what aspects of quantum technology, what kind of infrastructure or potential we have. And, what kind of human resources are there and how they need to be trained. Being a new area, you need to build from scratch. And, as you know, there are many applications of quantum that have emerged, which is quantum computing, communication, security or quantum key distribution, clocks, sensors, imaging devices, quantum material or superconductivity. And, of course, Quantum algorithms, which are now getting integrated into the new quantum mission.

In 2018, there were nearly 100 research groups in areas and over 100 PhD students. We made a scheme for three years with Rs 186 crore.

Progress has been in smaller-sized areas. Fifty groups have been identified. Meanwhile, bigger interest has developed. Departments like MeiTY, ISRO and DRDO have started looking towards this area. ISRO, for instance, is looking at satellites for quantum communication. We decided to upscale, and that is what the mention of Rs 8,000 crore in the Budget was all about.

Where are we on the national quantum technology mission which was announced in the Budget ?

Consultations have been going on. We have had half a dozen meetings till now. Detailed DPR is nearly drafted, and in another couple of weeks, we will have that ready. Lockdown has slowed down progress, but in another couple of months, we will get started. Now, this mission is interesting in many aspects. One is the content. However, the structure is extremely critical. We have an institute of quantum technologies, which sets up the mission and target. There will be some element of research to it, but its primary job will be coordinating the mission and targets, for example, setting targets like at least a 50-qubit quantum computer within five years. It will also guide the development of sub-systems and sub-technologies required. There will be a national committee chaired by a scientist, someone who knows the domain.

What will be the composition of this apex committee ?

The apex committee will have one-third representation from all stakeholders. We are looking to involve the industry right from the beginning so that they will constitute one-third. Academia and R&D will have one-third share, and the ministry will have a third share to present their demands. We need to cover the entire knowledge ecosystem. We will be doing human resource generation from undergrad to PhD and post-doctoral programmes.

We will also have technology transmission and incubation. So, there are enough incubators for start-ups. Funding from start-ups can also come from here. Two-way participation will be flexible. We will either employ the industry or give them money. This usually hasn’t been happening as far as the government is concerned. So, we will be signing MoUs with the industry and international MoUs. As we want to attract the best talent, salaries would be as per industry standards.

The second tier is the hubs, which will function as mini ministries focused on a particular area. These are aggregators and custodians of all activities in that area. Below hubs are centres. Centres will be geographical entities, like IITs. Below centres, we have spikes. This is a hub-spoke-spikes model. These will be one group or two groups which are working on a specific technology. So, we will cover the entire knowledge ecosystem, instead of working in silos.

There is also flexibility in powers given to the mission. They don’t have to come back to the ministry for funds. They will be able to invite people from abroad and send our researchers abroad. We should remain plugged into the global ecosystem. And, we cannot catch up if we don’t have expertise.

Has this model been followed anywhere else ?

A similar model was put in place for interdisciplinary cyber-physical systems, started last year at an investment of Rs 3,660 crore. We have established 21 hubs, and we are looking at four research parks. Each hub has an incubator and an integrated process. Because of the coronavirus, we have slowed down, but the project is underway. Hubs are Section 8 companies with an autonomous board, and they are empowered to make all decisions. Apex committee is set up with a top-level vision, and they do not micromanage.

What other missions can go along with the government’s quantum vision ?

Supercomputing mission is now fully operational. We are currently assembling and partly producing supercomputers in India; earlier, we had a plan to import. We have set this up in three different phases. Chips we are importing, but board-level integration is done in India. Six supercomputers have been made, three have been installed, and three will be installed within a month; 12 more will come by next year. We will also pick up other things, design and everything will happen here. Another domain is the cyber-physical mission, which caters to technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, IoT, Blockchain, Industry 4.0 and VR/VR/MR. These intersections will provide a lot of muscle.

Any, private partnerships ?

Supercomputing mission has a private partnership based on a global tender. We had given the contract to a French company, which has now set up its base in Pune.

Are there any plans to work on policy regulation ?

We will also have a hub for policy regulation and ethics. We call it light and shadow of technology. In India, we are developing policy in consonance. Standards are also an important part. No matter what technology we develop, if we can’t figure out standards, we cannot sell it within India or globally. Globally, standards are driven by companies and not by governments.

In ISRO, it took decades to integrate private players. You are now changing that model. Will the government handhold private industry ?

We are following a model of collaboration and cooperation. If something is high-risk, initially the government will do the funding. As we proceed further, the government will slowly exit and industry will put in more. So, we have a graded approach. We are integrating the industry from the first day. Industry, in our new model, has the same right to make use of resources.

Are we lagging behind other nations in terms of quantum mission ?

We are just beginning. Often in these frontier technologies, the nation didn’t invest the kind of resources that were needed. Semi-conductors and processors is one example. We have remedied that here. Our investment is comparable to what Europeans and Americans are doing. We are not going sub-critical. China, for instance, started a year or two ago. But we are not irreversibly behind.

What’s the next step ?

New science, technology and innovation policy is in the making. And, by the end of this year, we will have it ready. This policy considers some of the concerns regarding the industry. We need a science technology, and innovation policy and stakeholder consultation has been going on for the last three months.

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Quantum plan will be ready in a few months; we aren’t irreversibly behind others: Prof Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, DST

"Our investment is comparable to what Europeans and Americans are doing. We are not going sub-critical. China, for instance, started a year or two ago. But we are not irreversibly behind."
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Japanese tech firm NTT to invest $2 bn in India data centre business over next four years

The company will invest the funds in expanding its data centres and networks as well as new solar power projects in India. The company also launched its first 50 MW Solar Photovoltaic (PV) power plant in Solapur, Maharashtra, in partnership with Tata Power.

By Priyanka Sangani
ET Bureau
September 30, 2020, 17:27 IST
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Pune: Japanese technology firm NTT said it would invest about $2 billion over the next four years to expand its data centre business in India. NTT’s Global Data Center division on Wednesday announced the launch of a new data centre in Mumbai, expanding its capacity in the country by 30%. The Mumbai 7 Data Center has 375,000 square feet of co-location space and will offer 5,000 racks and over 30 MW of load capacity. The company will invest the funds in expanding its data centres and networks as well as new solar power projects in India.

The company also launched its first 50 MW Solar Photovoltaic (PV) power plant in Solapur, Maharashtra, in partnership with Tata Power. The plant is aimed at meeting 83% of the electricity needed by the Mumbai data centres and can be expanded to generate a further 50 MW in future.

“India has been a key market for NTT’s data centre portfolio,” said Masaaki Moribayashi, senior executive vice president - services of NTT. “That’s why we continue to expand our portfolio of state-of-the-art data centres in new and existing markets that complement our global geographic footprint and support our clients as their demand increases for reliable, robust cloud services, cloud communications, digital entertainment, and new technologies such as artificial intelligence.”

NTT, which had earlier acquired local data centre firm Netmagic, currently operates 10 data centres across four major cities with over 1.5 million sq ft and over 150 MW of power. It plans to double its capacity in the next two to three years.

“We are extremely pleased to increase our data centre footprint in Mumbai during this pandemic to enable our clients to derive greater value while delivering business outcomes,” said Sharad Sanghi, CEO, Global Data Centers and Cloud Infrastructure of NTT in India. “Our data centre facilities are poised to become the very heart of India’s IT Infrastructure needs, providing the right platform with end-to-end ICT solutions, combining hosted infrastructure, network, security and managed services – to balance the critical IT load of businesses,” he added.

The Mumbai 7 Data Center is the third hyperscale data centre in the Chandivali campus and is well connected by fibre from all four sides. Together, NTT’s Mumbai hub of data centres makes the Chandivali campus India’s first and largest operational hyperscale Data Center Park, which totals over 1,000,000 sq ft, 13,000 racks and 100 MW of load capacity.

According to 451 Research, India is growing at 23% CAGR (2017-2022) due to increased demand from global cloud providers and a proposed data sovereignty law by the government, as well as less-than-ideal market conditions that have been playing elsewhere in the Asia Pacific region.

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Japanese tech firm NTT to invest $2 bn in India data centre business over next four years - ET Telecom

NTT: The company will invest the funds in expanding its data centres and networks as well as new solar power projects in India. The company also launched its first 50 MW Solar Photovoltaic (PV) power plant in Solapur, Maharashtra, in partnership with Tata Power.
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C-DAC to commission India’s fastest HPC-AI Supercomputer ‘PARAM Siddhi – AI’ with NVIDIA

ET BureauLast Updated: Oct 05, 2020, 08:04 PM IST

Synopsis​

The initiative has been spearheaded by Abhishek Das, Scientist and Program Director (HPC-AI Infrastructure Development) at C-DAC, who conceived the idea and designed the architecture for the largest HPC-AI infrastructure in India.​
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This initiative will put India among the top countries in global AI supercomputing research and innovation.

PUNE: NVIDIA said on Monday that the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) will commission India’s largest HPC-AI supercomputer, ‘PARAM Siddhi – AI’. This initiative will put India among the top countries in global AI supercomputing research and innovation, it said.

The initiative has been spearheaded by Abhishek Das, Scientist and Program Director (HPC-AI Infrastructure Development) at C-DAC, who conceived the idea and designed the architecture for the largest HPC-AI infrastructure in India. It was approved by Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union minister of Electronics and IT and Law & Justice; Ajay Prakash Sawhney (Secretary, MeitY), Prof Ashutosh Sharma (Secretary, DST) and recommendation of National Supercomputing Mission (NSM – a government initiative) Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) chaired by Dr V K Saraswat, Member, Niti Aayog.

The supercomputer will have 210 AI Petaflops (6.5 Petaflops Peak DP) and will be based on the NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD reference architecture comprising 42 NVIDIA DGX A100 systems, connected with NVIDIA Mellanox HDR InfiniBand networking along with indigenously developed HPC-AI engine, Software Frameworks, Cloud Platform by C-DAC.

Dr Hemant Darbari, Director General, C-DAC said that PARAM Siddhi – AI, a large-scale HPC-AI scalable infrastructure will be established under NSM at C-DAC, with support from Niti Aayog, Ministry of Electronics and IT, Department of Science and Technology, and the central government. It will use NVIDIA Next Generation technology, C-DAC software stack and Cloud platform.

“It will play a pivotal role in developing a vibrant ecosystem for research and innovation in science and engineering. With three decades of expertise in AI and augmenting the AI and Language Computing Mission Mode Program of C-DAC, this infrastructure will accelerate experiments and outcomes for India specific grand challenge problems in Health Care, Education, Energy, Cyber Security, Space, Automotive and Agriculture. It will catalyze partnerships with the Academia, Industry, MSMEs and Start-ups,” he said.

“NVIDIA is committed to supporting nations across the globe in their mission to advance the frontiers of AI-enabled research,” said Charlie Boyle, General Manager and Vice-President of DGX systems at NVIDIA. “The turnkey NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD architecture is central to helping C-DAC deploy its supercomputer in record time. With this new AI supercomputer, C-DAC will be able to unleash AI innovation at incredible scale to help India address some of its most important challenges now, and in the future”.

economictimes.indiatimes.com

C-DAC to commission India’s fastest HPC-AI Supercomputer ‘PARAM Siddhi – AI’ with NVIDIA

The initiative has been spearheaded by Abhishek Das, Scientist and Program Director (HPC-AI Infrastructure Development) at C-DAC, who conceived the idea and designed the architecture for the largest HPC-AI infrastructure in India.
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