MoS Rajeev Chandrasekhar flags off 2nd Semicon India FutureDESIGN Roadshow

MoS also launched ChipIN Centre, which will act as a one-stop centre for chip designers across the country

NEW DELHI | Updated: 24 February, 2023 6:57 pm IST
Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Rajeev Chandrasekhar

The Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, launched the 2nd Semicon India FutureDESIGN Roadshow at IISc in Bengaluru on February 24.

The roadshow aims to encourage startups, next-generation innovators, and business leaders to invest in the semiconductor sector in India.

Speaking on the occasion, MoS Chandrasekhar said, “India is growing rapidly in global electronics value chains and the rapid growth of digitalization, along with India’s high-growth digital and innovation economy, has created opportunities in the New World Order of Semiconductor and Electronics.”

He spoke about three trends that are currently visible, “First, there has been an acceleration in digitalisation and governments around the world are digitising rapidly. Secondly, we are at an inflexion point, and third, for the world, New India is becoming a trusted partner in terms of delivering talent, global products, digital products and services.”

Emphasising that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is relentlessly working to expand opportunities for young Indians, Chandrasekhar said Semicon India FutureDESIGN represents one such opportunity.

Outlining some of the initiatives that the government has taken to support the semiconductor innovation ecosystem in India, MoS Chandrasekhar said, “The India Semiconductor Research Centre (ISRC), which will be a private, industry-led research centre will soon be launched and the Semiconductor Laboratory is being modernised and pivoted into a research fab and will be co-located with the ISRC.”

In addition, the government plans to introduce an educational curriculum as part of the Future Skills programme, he said. “It has been developed in collaboration with industry experts and academics,” the Union minister added.

“A large number of colleges will have new degrees, new electives, and new certification programmes in VLSI. We are actively working with fab companies to create on-the-job training type internships for students in the semiconductor space,” MoS Chandrasekhar stressed.

The Minister also announced the launch of the ChipIN Centre at C-DAC India, Bangalore, which will act as a one-stop centre to provide semiconductor design tools, fab access and virtual prototyping lab access to fabless chip designers in the country.

He also said that the India AI Datasets programme is going to be launched soon. “It will be the world’s largest datasets program which will, in turn, catalyse the Intelligent compute, AI computes, device and the system design ecosystem,” he added.

Speaking about the potential for collaboration between Indian startups and global semiconductor majors, he stated that through the power of SemiconIndia FutureDESIGN Startups, global semiconductor majors can enhance their ability to innovate beyond the normal innovation horizon.

MoS Chandrasekhar outlined India’s ambitions concerning the DIR-V (Digital India RISC-V Microprocessor Program), which will help develop, siliconize and create design wins for the future around SHAKTI and VEGA RISC-V Processors and commercial grade Indian Processors this year. “We are building a comprehensive architecture around RISC-V and aim to make India a RISC-V Talent hub for the world,” he said.

Union MoS Chandrasekhar announced the first set of startups selected under the Semicon India Future Design DLI scheme. The Scheme aims to offer financial incentives as well as design infrastructure support across various stages of the development and deployment of semiconductor designs for integrated circuits (ICs), chipsets, system-on-chips (SoCs), systems and IP cores, and semiconductor-linked designs over a period of five years.

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