Lok Sabha Question No. 1498 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-04
Subject: Chips to Start-up Programme
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Shri B K Parthasarathi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1498

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 04.12.2024

## CHIPS TO START-UP PROGRAMME

## 1498.  SHRI B K PARTHASARATHI:

Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

- (a)  the  details  regarding  the  total  number  of  academic  institutions  established/  functioning under the Chips to Start-up (C2S) Programme in the country, State-wise;
- (b) the number of engineers trained under the said program till date, State-wise;
- (c) the total number of SMART Labs established under the C2S programme to impart training in VLSI and Embedded System design areas;
- (d)  the  details  of  physical  and  financial  progress  achieved  under  the  same,  State-wise especially in Andhra Pradesh and;
- (e) whether the Government has any plan to establish more such SMART Labs in the country; and if so, the details thereof including proposals accepted and under consideration?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI JITIN PRASADA)

(a) to (b): Chips to Start-up (C2S) Programme: Chips to Start-up (C2S) Programme is an umbrella  programme  initiated  by  Ministry  of  Electronics  and  Information  Technology (MeitY)  with  an  outlay  of  Rs.  250  Crore  for  5  years  in  the  year  2022  at  113  academic organizations  (including  100  academic  institutions/  R&D  organizations  and  13  startups/ MSMEs) spread across the country.

The C2S Programme aims to generate 85,000 number of industry-ready manpower at B.Tech, M.Tech, and PhD levels specialized in semiconductor chip design, VLSI (Very Large-Scale Integration)  and  embedded  system  design  areas  and  create  vibrant  fabless  chip  design ecosystem in the country.

The  Programme  takes  a  comprehensive  approach  by  offering  students  complete  hands-on experience in chip design, fabrication, and testing. This is achieved through regular training sessions, conducted in collaboration with industry partners, and by providing mentorship and access to chip design, fabrication & testing resources to students, including state-of-the-art EDA (Electronic Design Automation) tools, access to semiconductor foundries for fabricating their chips etc. These opportunities include implementing the R&D  (Research & Development)  projects  under  C2S  Programme  for  development  of  working  prototypes  of ASICs (Application-Specific Integrated Circuits), Systems/ SoCs (System-on-Chips), and IP (Intellectual Property) Core designs.

Total  25,257  number of  engineering students have been trained at 113 organizations under C2S  Programme  till  date.  The  State-wise  list  of  113  organizations  via-a-vis  number  of engineers trained under C2S Programme is at Annexure-I.

The  EDA  (Electronic  Design  Automation)  tools  and  regular  training  sessions  have  been further  provided  to  a  total  of  240  organizations  across  the  country,  including  the  113 organizations listed above.

(c)  to  (e): A SMART Lab (Skilled  Manpower Advanced Research and Training) has been setup in the year 2022 at NIELIT Calicut under the C2S Programme with an aim to train one lakh  engineers  nation-wide  within  5  years  in  VLSI  and  Embedded  System  design.  The 'SMART' remote lab facility is equipped with 200 reconfigurable hardware boards, which can be accessed online 24/7 by students, researchers, and startups across the country. This remote access  enables  users  to  engage  with  the  lab's  resources  anytime,  promoting  widespread participation  in  hands-on  learning  and  research.  Regular  workshops  and  NSQF  (National Skills  Qualifications  Framework)  aligned  training  programmes  are  conducted  by  NIELIT Calicut to impart training to students using SMART lab facility.

Out  of  the  total  budget  of  Rs.  4.00  Crore  allocated  for  5  years,  Rs.  3.40  Crore  has  been utilized by NIELIT Calicut for SMART Lab activities. Through SMART lab, a total of 42,079 engineers have been trained nationwide, including 6,860 number of engineers from Andhra Pradesh,  via  training  programs  conducted  using  the  SMART  Lab.  The  State-wise  list  of engineers trained via SMART lab is at Annexure-II.

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## Annexure-I

## State-wise list of 113 organizations via-a-vis number of engineers trained under C2S Programme

|   # | Name of State/ Union territory   | Engineering students trained   |
|-----|----------------------------------|--------------------------------|
|   1 | Telangana                        | 4506                           |
|   2 | Kerala                           | 2070                           |
|   3 | Punjab                           | 625                            |
|   4 | Tamil Nadu                       | 3522                           |
|   5 | Odisha                           | 1301                           |
|   6 | West Bengal                      | 821                            |
|   7 | Uttar Pradesh                    | 1617                           |
|   8 | Goa                              | 53                             |
|   9 | Gujrat                           | 289                            |
|  10 | Karnataka                        | 2497                           |
|  11 | Madhya Pradesh                   | 1304                           |
|  12 | Chhattisgarh                     | 158                            |
|  13 | Himachal Pradesh                 | 369                            |
|  14 | Bihar                            | 361                            |
|  15 | Maharashtra                      | 1127                           |
|  16 | Jharkhand                        | 484                            |
|  17 | Uttarakhand                      | 944                            |
|  18 | Rajasthan                        | 302                            |
|  19 | Haryana                          | 142                            |
|  20 | Andhra Pradesh                   | 581                            |
|  21 | Assam                            | 194                            |
|  22 | Mizoram                          | 26                             |
|  23 | Manipur                          | 40                             |
|  24 | Nagaland                         | 78                             |
|  25 | Tripura                          | 230                            |
|  26 | Sikkim                           | 128                            |
|  27 | Arunachal Pradesh                | 20                             |
|  28 | Meghalaya                        | 320                            |
|  29 | Delhi                            | 614                            |
|  30 | Jammu &Kashmir                   | 101                            |
|  31 | Chandigarh                       | 274                            |
|  32 | Puducherry                       | 159                            |
|  33 | Total                            | 25,257                         |

## State-wise list of engineers trained via SMART lab

| #   | State/ Union territory      | Basic courses on semiconductor design and Embedded system design   | Advance courses on semiconductor design and Embedded system design   | Engineers trained   |
|-----|-----------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------|
| 1   | Andaman and Nicobar Islands | 6                                                                  | 0                                                                    | 6                   |
| 2   | Andhra Pradesh              | 6793                                                               | 67                                                                   | 6860                |
| 3   | Arunachal Pradesh           | 47                                                                 | 2                                                                    | 49                  |
| 4   | Assam                       | 263                                                                | 3                                                                    | 266                 |
| 5   | Bihar                       | 514                                                                | 6                                                                    | 520                 |
| 6   | Chandigarh                  | 44                                                                 | 2                                                                    | 46                  |
| 7   | Chhattisgarh                | 217                                                                | 8                                                                    | 225                 |
| 8   | Daman and Diu               | 9                                                                  | 0                                                                    | 9                   |
| 9   | Delhi                       | 778                                                                | 14                                                                   | 792                 |
| 10  | Goa                         | 41                                                                 | 0                                                                    | 41                  |
| 11  | Gujarat                     | 513                                                                | 18                                                                   | 531                 |
| 12  | Haryana                     | 508                                                                | 12                                                                   | 520                 |
| 13  | Himachal Pradesh            | 81                                                                 | 1                                                                    | 82                  |
| 14  | Jammu and Kashmir           | 250                                                                | 2                                                                    | 252                 |
| 15  | Jharkhand                   | 265                                                                | 3                                                                    | 268                 |
| 16  | Karnataka                   | 4464                                                               | 95                                                                   | 4559                |
| 17  | Kerala                      | 4068                                                               | 158                                                                  | 4226                |
| 18  | Ladakh                      | 2                                                                  | 0                                                                    | 2                   |
| 19  | Madhya Pradesh              | 1169                                                               | 23                                                                   | 1192                |
| 20  | Maharashtra                 | 3945                                                               | 83                                                                   | 4028                |
| 21  | Manipur                     | 251                                                                | 0                                                                    | 251                 |
| 22  | Meghalaya                   | 51                                                                 | 2                                                                    | 53                  |
| 23  | Mizoram                     | 16                                                                 | 3                                                                    | 19                  |
| 24  | Nagaland                    | 5                                                                  | 2                                                                    | 7                   |
| 25  | Odisha                      | 1066                                                               | 26                                                                   | 1092                |
| 26  | Puducherry                  | 573                                                                | 12                                                                   | 585                 |
| 27  | Punjab                      | 417                                                                | 9                                                                    | 426                 |
| 28  | Rajasthan                   | 552                                                                | 10                                                                   | 562                 |
| 29  | Sikkim                      | 26                                                                 | 1                                                                    | 27                  |
| 30  | Tamil Nadu                  | 7258                                                               | 128                                                                  | 7386                |
| 31  | Telangana                   | 3018                                                               | 51                                                                   | 3069                |
| 32  | Tripura                     | 54                                                                 | 1                                                                    | 55                  |
| 33  | Uttar Pradesh               | 2818                                                               | 28                                                                   | 2846                |
| 34  | Uttarakhand                 | 175                                                                | 4                                                                    | 179                 |
| 35  | West Bengal                 | 1024                                                               | 24                                                                   | 1048                |
|     | Total                       | 41281                                                              | 798                                                                  |                     |
|     |                             | 42,079                                                             | 42,079                                                               | 42,079              |

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## Annexure-II