Rama I
India's First Open-Source Computer
A 90-day open challenge to build, document, and ship a working computer using India's own companies, open-source designs, and honest accounting of every component — published live for the world to see.
Early Concept Phase
Challenge has not started yet. Component sourcing begins once we reach 50 registered teams. Join now →
Why now. Why open.
The Problem
India assembled 25% of the world's iPhones in 2025 — a 53% jump in a single year. But every chip inside that iPhone was designed in California, fabricated in Taiwan, and IP-locked by American corporations.
"The iPhone is Made in India. The intelligence inside it is not."
Assembly is not ownership. Three converging forces have created the first real window to change this: C-DAC VEGA (working Indian silicon), C2S Programme (1 lakh+ trained chip designers), and ISM 2.0 (₹1,000 crore this fiscal year alone).
The gap is not capability. It is coordination and a working prototype that makes the mission legible.
The Solution
Rama I is a 90-day open national challenge with a single, public, measurable goal: build a working computer using India's own companies, open-source designs, and honest accounting of every component — and publish everything.
It is not a product launch. It is a proof of concept, a coordination event, and a public commitment.
Every component. Every percentage.
Target suppliers identified. Challenge begins at 50 teams.
Challenge Not Started
We're identifying target suppliers and waiting for 50 registered teams. Join to unlock the challenge →
DVA = Domestic Value Addition. Numbers shown are targets, not current status. Challenge begins at 50 registered teams.
90 days. One working computer.
Challenge launches publicly
GitHub org + Discord live. Partners announced. Contribution registry open. DVA tracker goes public.
Freeze the BOM
Lock the Bill of Materials. Use VEGA/ARIES + Indian PCB + Indian enclosure. Publish every component with honest India DVA%.
Firmware sprint
Port OS to ARIES board. Community PRs. Nightly builds. Open repos. Every commit is public.
PCB ordered
Lion Circuits, Bengaluru. 10–14 day turnaround on custom Rama I board.
First PCBs arrive
Hand-assembled Prototype #1. Community contributors get unit when it ships.
Power on. Boot test.
OS running. Every contributor's name is in the commit history — and on the DVA tracker.
Live demo: Rama I boots
Runs an AI model. DVA at this stage: ~45–55% Made in India. Everything open-sourced. The machine exists.
Month 4–6: Iterate, improve DVA% to 65–70%, fix hardware v1.1
Month 6–12: First 1,000 units to schools and developers. DVA ~72–75%
Year 2–3: Custom SoC tape-out via C2S + ISM shuttle programmes
How to join Rama I
No prize money. No financial gain. Just your name on India's first open computer.
Register your team
Fill the form below. Students, researchers, manufacturers, and hobbyists all welcome. Every background needed.
Get the hardware kit
Clone the GitHub repo. Get the BOM and schematic files. C-DAC ARIES/VEGA dev board is your starting point.
View GitHub →Build and contribute
Submit firmware, fix hardware gaps, document supply chain, or close an Open Gap item. Every PR counts toward your DVA credit.
What contributors get
Join Rama I
Takes 60 seconds. No commitment required yet — just show up.
Standing on real shoulders
Partner with Rama I → [email protected]
Three honest blockers
We name the gaps publicly. Every gap is an invitation.
VEGA/SHAKTI are not Snapdragon-class yet
We don't compete on performance Day 1. We compete on sovereignty, openness, and education. Raspberry Pi-class is enough for 90% of school deployments, edge AI, and sovereign compute use cases. Existence is the first benchmark.
Memory (DRAM/NAND) is ~15–20% Indian
No Indian DRAM fab at volume exists yet. We use Micron India-assembled modules (partial credit), declare this gap publicly, and make it a named challenge. ISM 2.0 addresses this by 2027–2029.
Passive components are almost entirely imported
India has zero volume MLCC manufacturing. We source from Japan/Taiwan, list every import as an "Open Gap" in the public tracker, and make it an invitation. The gap registry is its own call to action.
The iPhone took 10 years to reach
25% Made in India.
Rama I is not building an iPhone.
It is building the proof of concept that makes a fully indigenous computer inevitable — and making sure that when that moment arrives, the design is open, the process is documented, and any city in India can replicate it.
Salik Shah · Founder, Dirgha · [email protected] · dirgha.ai/about