India's National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT) and the Semiconductor Laboratory (SCL) have collaborated to make SCL's indigenous 1.2-micrometer Process Design Kit (PDK) available through the eChipHub platform, supporting semiconductor design education and research as part of the country's India Semiconductor Mission.
NIELIT, an autonomous scientific society under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), said the initiative is intended to provide students, researchers, faculty members, startups, micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), and industry professionals with access to an indigenous semiconductor process technology for integrated circuit (IC) design and prototyping.
The 1.2 µm PDK has been integrated into eChipHub, a semiconductor education platform managed by NIELIT under a MeitY-funded project to expand semiconductor design training. The platform was jointly developed by NIELIT and SoCTeamup Semiconductors Pvt. Ltd. and offers educational resources, design tools, and training programs for semiconductor engineering.
According to NIELIT, the PDK will be distributed through a secure Aadhaar-authenticated download process intended to balance broader access with controlled use.
The integration combines the indigenous PDK with open-source electronic design automation (EDA) toolchains, enabling users to complete semiconductor design workflows ranging from register-transfer level (RTL) design and simulation to synthesis, physical implementation, and fabrication-oriented design using an Indian-developed process technology.
NIELIT said the addition of the PDK complements eChipHub's existing offerings, including implementation-focused courses, cloud-based virtual laboratories, faculty development programs, workshops, internships, hackathons, academic partnerships, and collaborative chip design projects.
Under its ongoing MeitY-supported semiconductor education initiative, NIELIT aims to train nearly 30,000 students through structured courses, boot camps, faculty development programs, internships, and industry-academia collaboration.
The collaboration builds on a memorandum of understanding signed by NIELIT and SCL in April 2025 to promote semiconductor research, workforce development, indigenous technology, and closer cooperation between academia and industry. NIELIT said the broader objective is to strengthen India's semiconductor ecosystem and support the country's efforts to expand domestic semiconductor design, innovation, and product development.
Article edited by Jack Wu
