BOSS, the Indian-language Linux operating system used in government offices and schools, comes out of a C-DAC centre on the eighth floor of Tidel Park in Taramani. C-DAC Chennai, set up in 2002, is one of 12 centres of the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, an autonomous society under the Union Ministry of Electronics and IT, and it serves as the National Resource Centre for Free and Open Source Software (NRCFOSS).
The centre also helped build the system that guards Tamil Nadu government websites against cyber attacks. Here is what it works on and how to reach it.
Three focus areas
The centre’s page lists three main areas: free and open source software, ubiquitous computing (connected devices and networks), and upskilling and reskilling. Its listed expertise covers a secured indigenous operating system, blockchain, next-generation cyber security tools, microservices-based software-as-a-service, a secure online examination system, AI and machine learning, low-power wide-area networks, the Internet of Things, and 5G and software-defined networking.
BOSS Linux and open source
BOSS stands for Bharat Operating System Solutions. A Lok Sabha reply of 6 March 2013 described it as a GNU/Linux system from NRCFOSS with wide support for Indian languages, free to download, and named C-DAC Chennai among NRCFOSS’s implementing agencies alongside IIT Madras and Anna University. The same reply listed deployments in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, schools in Punjab and Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Tripura, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and the Army and Navy, and noted an MoU with ELCOT, Tamil Nadu’s electronics corporation.
C-DAC’s current product list includes:
- BOSS Desktop, the general-purpose edition
- Secure BOSS Linux, customised for critical end-point computers
- a BOSS-based student attendance system
- AI-powered secure exam analytics
- Agnivesh, a wireless early fire detection system
- C-DAC Virtue, a hyper-converged infrastructure product
The product page does not tag each item to a centre, so treat the list as C-DAC-wide, with BOSS the clear Chennai link.
Guarding Tamil Nadu government systems
Tamil Nadu set up its Cyber Security Architecture (CSA-TN) in collaboration with C-DAC Chennai at a cost of ₹21.39 crore, the state IT Department’s policy note for 2024-25 says. C-DAC also lists CSA-TN among its services. The policy note describes three pillars:
| Pillar | What it includes |
|---|---|
| People | A chief or information security officer in every department; a Cyber Security Incident Response Team |
| Process | NIST Cyber Security Framework; a state Cyber Crisis Management Plan reviewed by CERT-In; helpdesk for hacked or defaced sites |
| Technology | Security Operation Centre (SOC-TN) monitoring about 1,200 critical assets |
The note says more than 20 online training programmes have been run for state officials, 51,535 suspicious IP addresses had been blocked, and STQC Chennai audits the framework.
Contacting the centre
C-DAC Chennai’s contact page gives the address as Tidel Park, 8th Floor, D Block (North and South), No. 4 Rajiv Gandhi Salai, Taramani, Chennai 600113. Phone 044-22542226 or 22542227. Recruitment notices for project engineers and other posts appear on the C-DAC careers page, which lists all centres; Chennai roles are marked by location. C-DAC’s advanced computing diploma courses are run by its training wing and listed separately on cdac.in, so check there for whether a Chennai batch is offered in a given term.
Where Chennai sits in C-DAC
C-DAC is headquartered in Pune and is primarily a research and development body. Across its 12 centres it works in eight thematic areas: high performance computing, quantum computing, AI and multilingual computing, strategic electronics, software technologies, health informatics, education and training, and cyber security and forensics. Within that network, the Chennai unit’s own page puts its emphasis on open source software and networked devices.
Under NRCFOSS, C-DAC Chennai worked alongside C-DAC’s Hyderabad, Delhi and Mumbai centres, IIT Madras, IIT Bombay and Anna University. The 2013 Lok Sabha reply said free BOSS CDs were being distributed, BOSS support centres were being set up across the country, and C-DAC had signed MoUs with Chhattisgarh’s CHiPS, the governments of Tripura and Bihar, and the National Informatics Centre to use BOSS. C-DAC also lists the Meghdoot open source cloud suite and the CCTNS police crime-tracking network among its services, though it does not say which centre runs each.
For residents, C-DAC Chennai is mostly invisible: you meet its work when a government office computer boots into BOSS or when a state portal stays online through an attack. Job seekers meet it through project-staff recruitment posted on the C-DAC careers page.
For CSA-TN, the policy note adds that every government department has a named security officer who receives periodic awareness training, and that a helpdesk team helps departments recover from website defacement, hacking and data breaches. The state describes itself as a pioneer in applying the NIST framework across a whole government.
Quick answers
Where is C-DAC in Chennai?
On the 8th floor, D Block, Tidel Park, Taramani, on Rajiv Gandhi Salai.
Is BOSS Linux free?
Yes. It is open source and free to download.
What is CSA-TN?
Tamil Nadu’s government cyber security set-up, built with C-DAC Chennai at ₹21.39 crore, including a security operations centre.
When was C-DAC Chennai set up?
In 2002.
Information checked against official sources on 18 October 2026. Fees, dates and rules can change; confirm on the linked official pages before acting.
Sources
- C-DAC Centre @ Chennai (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing)
- Contact: C-DAC Chennai address (C-DAC)
- C-DAC products (C-DAC)
- C-DAC services including CSA-TN (C-DAC)
- Information Technology Department Policy Note 2024-25 (Government of Tamil Nadu)
- Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1555 on BOSS Linux, 6 March 2013 (Parliament of India)
