Chips to Start-ups Programme Strengthens India’s Semiconductor Design Ecosystem and Industry Ready Talent

The Ministry of Electronics & IT’s Chips to Start‑ups (C2S) Programme aims to bridge the semiconductor talent gap by training over 68,000 students and targeting 85,000 industry‑ready graduates at B.Tech, M.Tech and PhD levels. It has provided advanced EDA tools from major vendors to 332 academic institutions, enabling 254 chip designs (175 at 180 nm node in SCL, Mohali and 79 at overseas foundries). In Andhra Pradesh, 23 institutions received tool access amounting to 4.34 lakh tool‑hours, and four research projects – covering RISC‑V, hardware accelerators, neuromorphic and AI co‑processors – have been financially supported. The programme reflects the government’s policy to develop a robust semiconductor design ecosystem and skilled workforce.