Centre eyes dedicated R&D wing under semicon research centre

The government is planning a dedicated research and development (R&D) wing under the proposed India Semiconductor Research Centre (ISRC) that will focus on semiconductor research which can "quickly go into industrial production", sources told ET.

"There is a need for both the private and public sector, especially in the semiconductor space to have full-time R&D personnel. The idea is to create an intellectual property right (IPR) driven manufacturing ecosystem. We might look at creating a structure where some of the R&D can be co-funded or in PPP mode," a senior government official said.

The dedicated R&D wing will be separate from other research work under the ISRC where the project gestation period is longer. According to the proposal, ISRC will focus on R&D work in developing the next generation of semiconductors, packaging and systems technologies, processes, and materials.


The finer details of the scheme are likely to be announced after the general elections are over in June. Depending on the feasibility of the scheme, the dedicated R&D centre can also be spun off into an independent entity, another official said.

Apart from introducing bachelor and masters level courses in semiconductor engineering, the government may also nudge higher education institutes such as the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar and the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru to develop and dedicate more resources for R&D in semiconductors, the official said.