New Delhi — More than 68,000 students have been trained under India’s Chips to Startups program as the government works to expand the country’s semiconductor design talent pool, according to Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT Jitin Prasada.
The program aims to train 85,000 industry-ready professionals at the B.Tech, M.Tech and Ph.D. levels in semiconductor chip design.
Under the initiative, 332 academic institutions across India have received access to advanced Electronic Design Automation tools from companies including Synopsys, Cadence, Siemens EDA, Ansys, Keysight, Silvaco, Renesas-Altium and AMD-Xilinx.
Participating institutions have successfully taped out 254 chip designs. Of those, 175 were produced using the 180-nanometer technology node at the Semiconductor Laboratory in Mohali, while 79 were taped out at overseas semiconductor foundries, Prasada said in the Lok Sabha.
In Andhra Pradesh, 23 academic institutions have been given access to advanced EDA tools, recording more than 434,000 cumulative tool hours. Projects at those institutions are at various stages of design and development and could progress to prototype validation and foundry tape-outs.
The government also highlighted growth under the Electronics Hardware Technology Parks program, which is designed to support export-oriented electronics manufacturing.
The number of EHTP units has risen to 79, while exports under the program crossed Rs 11,100 crore in fiscal 2026.
The EHTP program allows eligible companies to receive benefits under India’s Foreign Trade Policy 2023, including duty-free imports or procurement of capital goods, raw materials, components and other materials used for export production.
Eligible units can also make certain sales in the domestic market and receive simplified customs procedures and single-window regulatory clearances. (Source: IANS)
