NIELIT Opens Indigenous Chip Design Kit Through eChipHub

A Process Design Kit contains the technical files, rules and models that chip designers need to create integrated circuits for a specific manufacturing process.

India's semiconductor education and innovation network is set to gain wider access to home-grown process technology as the National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology makes the Semiconductor Laboratory's indigenous 1.2-micrometre Process Design Kit available through eChipHub. The collaboration between NIELIT and SCL Mohali will give students, researchers, teachers, startups, micro, small and medium enterprises, and industry professionals a practical environment for designing and preparing integrated circuits for prototyping. The initiative supports the India Semiconductor Mission by connecting technical education with tools that reflect real chip-development processes.

Indigenous technology reaches more learners

A Process Design Kit contains the technical files, rules and models that chip designers need to create integrated circuits for a specific manufacturing process. Integrating SCL's kit with eChipHub means users can learn how a circuit moves from an early digital design to a fabrication-ready layout while working with Indian process technology.

The kit will be provided through a secure Aadhaar-authenticated download system, which is intended to encourage responsible use while expanding access across academic, research and commercial communities.

A complete chip-development learning route

The indigenous open-source PDK will work with open-source Electronic Design Automation toolchains, creating one of India's first locally developed learning pathways covering both chip design and preparation for fabrication. Learners will be able to explore the full workflow, including register-transfer level design, simulation, synthesis, physical implementation and fabrication-oriented checks.

This practical structure can help students understand how chip designs are tested and refined before manufacturing, while giving researchers and young companies a platform for developing ideas into technically viable integrated circuit designs.

Training planned for nearly 30,000 students

NIELIT manages eChipHub under a MeitY-funded project created to make semiconductor design and development education accessible to a much wider population. The platform was jointly developed by NIELIT and SoCTeamup Semiconductors Private Limited as a national resource for semiconductor learning and capacity building.

Nearly 30,000 students are expected to receive semiconductor design training through structured courses, bootcamps, internships, faculty development programmes and projects connecting educational institutions with industry. Cloud-based virtual laboratories, workshops, hackathons, academic alliances and collaborative chip-design projects form part of the platform's expanding learning network.

Partnership supports India's chip ambitions

The latest integration builds on an agreement signed by NIELIT and SCL on April 25, 2025, in the presence of MeitY Secretary S. Krishnan. Their partnership covers semiconductor research, indigenous technology, skills development and closer links between academic institutions and industry.

Giving learners and innovators access to an Indian PDK can reduce dependence on foreign learning resources while building experience around locally developed technologies. NIELIT and SCL expect the collaboration to help academic institutions, startups and MSMEs turn early concepts into fabrication-ready designs, strengthening the talent and product-development base needed for India to grow as a global semiconductor hub.