The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) unveiled India's fastest supercomputer, named Param Yuva II, at its facility in Pune, Maharashtra, on Friday.

The new supercomputer will help in more precise weather forecasting, faster tapping of natural resources in the sea, and designing customised drugs for individuals, said J Satyanarayana, secretary in the department of electronics and information technology, while inaugurating the machine.

The supercomputer has been upgraded to 524 teraflops, about 10 times faster than what is available at present. With an investment of Rs16 crore, it was developed in a record three months, Satyanarayana said.

Developing research-based applications will take less time than before and complex problems will be solved in a simpler way. For instance, if it takes about 18 to 20 years to discover a new drug now from designing to testing; Param Yuva II will help reduce this time to 15 years.

The supercomputer would also help in reducing the time-frame in weather predictions. Researchers currently collect satellite data to predict the conditions for a six-km region; now the supercomputer could help cover a wider region, possibly up to 10 km.

About 300 people from the C-DAC team were involved in the making of the supercomputer, which also promises to be energy efficient with a 35-per cent reduction in energy consumption as compared to the earlier machines.

Satyanarayana said, "The facility is a stepping stone for the petaflop version of the supercomputer that India has envisioned. What we need to do now is speak to users, researchers and scientists and take feedback from them on the issues relating to usage of the facility and help them in accelerating their research work for the benefit of common man."

C-DAC director general Rajat Moona said, "Although we initiated the project in June 2012, we only intended that it to upgrade the facility. However, we later realised that it could be upgraded to half-a-petaflop (524 teraflop) and we achieved this within three months."

"The list of the top 500 supercomputers in the world is released twice in a year, in June and November. Had we launched Param Yuva II in November, it would have been in the 62nd position," he said.