NIELIT and SCL Mohali Collaborate to Make Indigenous Semiconductor PDK Available on eChipHub
The National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT), an autonomous scientific society under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), has collaborated with Semiconductor Laboratory (SCL) Mohali to make the indigenous 1.2 µm Process Design Kit (PDK) available through the eChipHub platform. This initiative supports the India Semiconductor Mission objectives by providing students, researchers, faculty members, startups, MSMEs, and industry professionals across India with access to indigenous semiconductor process technology for integrated circuit design and prototyping.
eChipHub serves as a comprehensive national platform for semiconductor design education and capacity building, implemented and managed by NIELIT under the MeitY-funded project titled 'Development of EdTech Platform in Semiconductor Space to Democratize Chip Design and Development Ecosystem for Masses.' The platform was jointly developed by NIELIT and SoCTeamup Semiconductors Pvt. Ltd. Under this EdTech project, NIELIT aims to train nearly 30,000 students in semiconductor design through structured courses, bootcamps, faculty development programmes, internships, and industry-academia collaborative initiatives.
The SCL 1.2 µm PDK has been integrated with eChipHub and will be made available through a secure Aadhaar-authenticated download mechanism, ensuring responsible access while encouraging wider adoption across the semiconductor ecosystem. This integration with open-source EDA toolchains creates India's first indigenous design-to-fabrication learning pathway, enabling learners to undertake the complete semiconductor design workflow from RTL design and simulation to synthesis, physical implementation, and fabrication-oriented design using indigenous process technology.
The collaboration strengthens eChipHub's offerings, which include implementation-oriented courses, cloud-based virtual laboratories, Faculty Development Programmes, workshops, internships, hackathons, Academic Alliance initiatives, and collaborative chip design projects. This partnership follows a Memorandum of Understanding signed between NIELIT and SCL Mohali on 25 April 2025 in the presence of Shri S. Krishnan, Secretary, MeitY, aimed at fostering collaboration in semiconductor research and development, innovation, and skilling to strengthen India's semiconductor ecosystem.
NIELIT, with its extensive presence through 56 centers, over 700 accredited institutes, and 8,000+ facilitation centers, has been conferred the status of 'Deemed to be University' under the distinct category by the Ministry of Education, with its main campus at Ropar and eleven constituent campuses across India.