Centre Mulls Proposal To Set Up Private-Public Cloud Model For Chip Designs

The government is contemplating a proposal to build a private-public cloud model to provide easy access to chip and packaging designs to startups, researchers and small companies.

This dedicated facility to store chip designs could be set up under the Indian Semiconductor Research and Centre (ISRC), which is expected to be launched soon by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), ET reported, citing a government official.

“Companies spend considerable time and resources to develop new IC (integrated chip) or improved packaging design. Naturally, all of those IP-protected resources may not be immediately available. We are hoping to have some of these designs made available to small startups for research work,” the report quoted the above source as saying.

The IT ministry aims to give startups access to the chip and packaging designs to lessen the time for semiconductor ecosystem products to be market-ready. 

The access to chip designs, however, will be subject to specific conditions and criteria, and startups must meet eligibility requirements or must have prior experience in semiconductor chip design.

It was also reported earlier that the government is considering setting up a separate semiconductor research and development unit under the proposed ISRC.

The proposed R&D wing will focus on developing advanced semiconductors, packaging and system technologies, processes and materials.

It is important to note that a MeitY panel recommended setting up a semiconductor research centre in 2023, with an initial corpus of $8 Bn (INR 66,500 Cr) over the next five years. 

The development comes at a time when India is looking to establish itself as one of the principal poles of semiconductor research.

Recently, the Union Cabinet granted approval to India’s first semiconductor fabrication plant to be set up by the Tata Group and Taiwan’s Powership Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp.

At the same time, CG Power and Japan’s Renesas will be setting up a semiconductor plant in Sanand, Gujarat, at the cost of INR 7,600 Cr to produce 15 chips a day.

Further, US-based chipmaker Micron, which runs a chip assembly plant in Gujarat’s Sanand, has vowed to manufacture the first “Made in India” chips by the end of 2024.

These developments are a testament to the growing confidence in India’s semiconductor programme and plans.

India’s semiconductor ecosystem got a shot in the arm in 2021 when the government rolled out the INR 76,000 Cr -Semicon India program. Under the scheme, subsidies were provided to firms engaged in silicon semiconductor fabs, display fabs, compound semiconductors/sensor fabs, and semiconductor packaging and design.

In 2022, the central government unveiled the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), aiming to become a reliable hub for electronics manufacturing and design.

The ISM policy framework has spurred activity in the local chip assembly and framework, with giants such as Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Micron and Qualcomm pumping money into India’s semiconductor economy.

The Indian semiconductor industry is expected to reach $55 Bn by 2026 on the back of increasing demand for smartphones, automobiles and data storage.