MeitY-Backed Sona ChipIN Centre Opens In Tamil Nadu To Advance Chip Design

Tamil Nadu has added a new milestone to India’s semiconductor ambitions with the inauguration of the MeitY-backed Sona ChipIN Centre at Sona College of Technology on Saturday.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology established the facility under its Chips to Startup (C2S) programme to support semiconductor design education, VLSI research and innovation.

Set up at the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE), the centre has been launched in collaboration with MeitY, C-DAC and the ChipIN Centre initiative. It houses advanced Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools worth Rs 100 million, enabling students, faculty members and researchers to undertake semiconductor design and industry-focused innovation projects.

Dr V Veerappan, Chairman of the India Electronics and Semiconductor Association, and Shekar Viswanathan, former Vice-Chairman of Toyota Kirloskar Motor, inaugurated the centre.

Sona Institutions Chairman C Valliappa said the centre will likely work towards developing a ‘Made in India’ semiconductor chip within the next 24-36 months in line with the government’s India Semiconductor Mission.

Sona Institutions Vice Chairman Chocko Valliappa noted that the initiative comes at a time when India’s semiconductor ecosystem is expanding rapidly and the country is entering advanced 3nm chip development capabilities.

According to the institution, the ECE Department will use the facility to train students from multiple programmes, including Electronics and Communication Engineering, Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Electronics Engineering VLSI Design and Technology, Electronics and Computer Engineering, and ME VLSI Design.

The centre’s software ecosystem includes semiconductor and chip design platforms from leading global technology companies.

Launched by MeitY in 2022, the Rs 250 crore C2S programme, however, aims to build India’s semiconductor ecosystem and create 85,000 industry-ready professionals in chip design and VLSI-related fields over five years.

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