NIELIT, SCL collaborate to advance chip innovation in India
As part of this collaboration, the 1.2 µm Process Design Kit will be made available through eChipHub, and provide students, researchers, faculty members, startups, MSMEs and industry professionals with access to an indigenous semiconductor process technology for IC design and prototyping.
National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT), an autonomous scientific society under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India, is partnering with Semiconductor Laboratory (SCL), Mohali, an autonomous organization under MeitY, to make the indigenous 1.2 µm Process Design Kit (PDK) available through eChipHub.
The initiative will provide students, researchers, faculty members, startups, MSMEs and industry professionals across the country with access to an indigenous semiconductor process technology for integrated circuit (IC) design and prototyping, thereby promoting practical semiconductor design education and innovation, according to a media release.
eChipHub has been implemented and is being managed by NIELIT under the MeitY-funded project titled "Development of EdTech Platform in Semiconductor Space to Democratize Chip Design and Development Ecosystem for Masses." The platform has been jointly developed by NIELIT and SoCTeamup Semiconductors Pvt. Ltd. and serves as a comprehensive national platform for semiconductor design education and capacity building.
Under the ongoing MeitY-funded EdTech project, NIELIT aims to train nearly 30,000 students in semiconductor design through structured courses, bootcamps, faculty development programmes, internships and industry-academia collaborative initiatives.
As part of the collaboration, the SCL 1.2 µm Process Design Kit (PDK) has been integrated with eChipHub and will be made available through a secure Aadhaar-authenticated download mechanism, ensuring responsible access while encouraging wider adoption across the semiconductor ecosystem, the media release said.
