Govt eyes pvt-public cloud model for chip designs for easy access

The government is considering a proposal to set up a private-public cloud model for storing designs of advanced semiconductor chips and packaging that can be easily accessed by startups, academics and small companies, people in the know told ET.

This infrastructure could be housed under the India Semiconductor Research Centre (ISRC), proposed to be set up by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, an official said.

“Companies spend considerable time and resources to develop new IC (integrated chip) or improved packaging design. Naturally, all of those IP-protected resources may not be immediately available. We are hoping to have some of these designs made available to small startups for research work,” the official said.


The IT ministry also wants to provide them access to the designs to reduce the time to market for semiconductor ecosystem products, another government official said. Only startups which qualify under certain criteria or are present in the semiconductor chip design space may be allowed access, he said.

ET had earlier reported that the ministry is planning a dedicated research and development wing under the ISRC to focus on research of semiconductor products which can "quickly go into industrial production".

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, the ISRC will focus on R&D work in developing the next generation of semiconductors, packaging and systems technologies, processes, and materials.

The ISRC has been proposed as a centre of excellence with an initial investment of up to $250 million coming from both the public exchequer and private industries.

Proposed to function as an independent unit under the IT ministry, the ISRC will have a full-time management with independent directors from the industry and representatives from the government. Though the lion’s share of funding for the research centre is proposed to come from the government, a government committee which advocated setting up of the ISRC has suggested that donations, grants, scholarships and other service fees could be raised from other avenues.