India's semiconductor drive: Top IITs, NIT Rourkela, and Saveetha Engineering College to lead chip design push

In a major boost to India’s semiconductor ecosystem, top engineering institutions, including IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay, IIT Guwahati, IIT (BHU) Varanasi, NIT Rourkela, and Saveetha Engineering College, have emerged as frontrunners in chip design innovation through the "Analog and Digital Hackathons" under the Chips to Start-up (C2S) Programme.

The winners were announced by Union Minister for Electronics and IT, Ashwini Vaishnaw. The hackathons, supported by AMD, Synopsys, and CoreEL Technologies, challenged 40 elite teams and 200 innovators to develop real-world semiconductor solutions, enhancing LIVE image processing on FPGA hardware and optimizing complex voltage regulator circuits.

Hackathon winners

In the Analog Design Hackathon, Team Intuition from IIT Delhi secured the first prize, followed by Team Analog Edge from NIT Rourkela, which won the second prize. The third prize was awarded to Team FETManiacs from IIT Guwahati.

For the Digital Design Hackathon, Team RISCB from IIT Bombay claimed the first prize, while Team Silicon Scripters from Saveetha Engineering College won the second prize. The third prize went to Team Daedalus from IIT (BHU) Varanasi.

The Chips to Start-up (C2S) Programme, spearheaded by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), is a key initiative aimed at strengthening India’s semiconductor ecosystem. It targets the creation of 85,000 industry-ready engineers at the BTech, MTech, and PhD levels specialising in chip design. 

The programme provides students with hands-on experience in chip fabrication, testing, and development, supported by EDA tools, semiconductor foundries, and expert mentorship.

To further accelerate India's chip design ecosystem, MeitY has launched the ChipIN Centre at C-DAC, creating one of the country’s largest centralised chip design facilities. The center provides access to advanced design tools up to the 5nm node, along with aggregate services for fabrication and packaging.

Expanding India’s semiconductor roadmap, the ministry has also announced the launch of the "Digital India RISC-V Processor", set to invite applications from April 10, 2025. This initiative will be powered by VEGA Processors by C-DAC and SHAKTI Microprocessors by IIT Madras, with support from Renesas, LTSC, CoreEL Technologies, and Bharat Electronics.