- Why in news
- On 22 July 2026, the Minister of State for Earth Sciences told the Lok Sabha in a written reply about the Bharat Forecast System (BharatFS), India's indigenous 6 km resolution global weather model.
- What it is
- BharatFS is an Indian global weather prediction model built by IITM-Pune with support from NCMRWF and IMD. It runs on a Triangular Cubic Octahedral (TCo) grid at 6 km horizontal resolution. It aims to give forecasts at the level of a cluster of panchayats and to predict extreme events better.
- Resolution
- BharatFS works at 6 km horizontal resolution, finer than its predecessor GFS T1534 (about 12 km) and typical global models (9-14 km).
- Supercomputers
- Arka at IITM-Pune and Arunika at NCMRWF-Noida cut the runtime and made real-time use possible.
- Developers
- Scientists from IITM-Pune developed it, supported by NCMRWF-Noida and IMD.
- Objective
- It was built to generate forecasts at the cluster of panchayats level and improve prediction of extremes.
- Claim of uniqueness
- The government says India is the only country running a global weather prediction model at 6 km for real-time forecasting.
Don’t confuse with IITM vs NCMRWF vs IMD: IITM-Pune is a research institute under MoES that developed the model. NCMRWF-Noida runs numerical weather prediction support. IMD issues the operational forecasts.
Don’t confuse with Global vs regional model: BharatFS is a global model run at high resolution, not a limited-area regional model.
Science and technology: 57 Prelims questions since 2013; most test the concept behind the news, not the news itself. In Mains, 12 news-triggered questions.
Why it matters
- Village-cluster forecasts help farmers plan sowing, irrigation and harvesting.
- Better extreme rainfall prediction aids reservoir management and faster disaster response.
Problems
- High-resolution models need heavy computing power and large observational data.
- Skill is shown so far for the core monsoon region; complex terrain such as the Himalayas remains hard to forecast.
Way forward
- Expand observation networks and data assimilation to match the finer grid.
- Build last-mile channels to turn forecasts into advisories for farmers and local bodies.
Put in your answer
Indigenous capability: BharatFS is cited as an indigenous model aligned with Make in India, and as supporting neighbouring countries.
Farm and water management use: Localized forecasts help crop planning and reservoir management during monsoons.
- 2026Prelims Q84Which statements about the Bharat Forecast System's objective and developer are correct?
- 2022Mains GS1 · Q5Discuss the meaning of IMD's colour-coded weather warnings for cyclone-prone areas.
- 2026Mains GS1 · Q15Analyse satellite-based technologies' role in climate-smart agriculture and food security.
UPSC’s own questions that come close to this issue, from our Prelims and Mains banks.
No practice question for this one; the card may still help an answer. Why: New 6 km global weather model; lasting topic on syllabus, but few testable facts beyond resolution and supercomputers, so no question set.
Worth revising until Prelims 2028: most news questions come within two years of the event.