diff --git a/nemo_reinforcer/distributed/virtual_cluster.py b/nemo_reinforcer/distributed/virtual_cluster.py
index 3c45697345..d909f17b6b 100644
--- a/nemo_reinforcer/distributed/virtual_cluster.py
+++ b/nemo_reinforcer/distributed/virtual_cluster.py
@@ -173,6 +173,30 @@ def _init_placement_groups(self, strategy: str):
         if self._node_placement_groups is not None:
             return self._node_placement_groups
 
+        # Check available resources in the Ray cluster
+        cluster_resources = ray.cluster_resources()
+        total_available_gpus = int(cluster_resources.get("GPU", 0))
+        total_available_cpus = int(cluster_resources.get("CPU", 0))
+
+        # Calculate required resources
+        total_requested_gpus = (
+            sum(self._bundle_ct_per_node_list) if self.use_gpus else 0
+        )
+        total_requested_cpus = (
+            sum(self._bundle_ct_per_node_list) * self.max_colocated_worker_groups
+        )
+
+        # Validate resources
+        if self.use_gpus and total_requested_gpus > total_available_gpus:
+            raise ValueError(
+                f"Not enough GPUs available. Requested {total_requested_gpus} GPUs, but only {total_available_gpus} are available in the cluster."
+            )
+
+        if total_requested_cpus > total_available_cpus:
+            raise ValueError(
+                f"Not enough CPUs available. Requested {total_requested_cpus} CPUs, but only {total_available_cpus} are available in the cluster."
+            )
+
         num_cpus_per_bundle = self.max_colocated_worker_groups
         # num_gpus_per_bundle == 1 indicates that there is 1 GPU per process
         num_gpus_per_bundle = 1 if self.use_gpus else 0
@@ -192,7 +216,24 @@ def _init_placement_groups(self, strategy: str):
             for i, bundles in enumerate(resources)
         ]
 
-        ray.get([pg.ready() for pg in self._node_placement_groups])
+        # Add timeout to prevent hanging indefinitely
+        try:
+            ray.get(
+                [pg.ready() for pg in self._node_placement_groups], timeout=180
+            )  # 3-minute timeout
+        except (TimeoutError, ray.exceptions.GetTimeoutError):
+            # Clean up any created placement groups
+            for pg in self._node_placement_groups:
+                try:
+                    remove_placement_group(pg)
+                except Exception:
+                    pass
+            self._node_placement_groups = None
+            raise TimeoutError(
+                "Timed out waiting for placement groups to be ready. The cluster may not have enough resources "
+                "to satisfy the requested configuration, or the resources may be busy with other tasks."
+            )
+
         return self._node_placement_groups
 
     def get_placement_groups(self):