BHUBANESWAR: The semiconductor and electronics ecosystem in Odisha is set for a major boost as the government is developing a greenfield electronics manufacturing cluster (EMC) near the city airport to support upcoming industries.
Union minister for Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw informed the Parliament on Friday that the EMC is being developed at a cost of Rs 200 crore and expected to attract investments worth Rs 1,530 crore and generate around 3,000 jobs. So far, Rs 398 crore has been invested and 572 jobs have been created in the cluster.
Under the Semicon India Programme, two semiconductor units with a combined investment of Rs 4,009 crore have been approved for the state. These units will focus on advanced packaging, embedded glass substrate manufacturing and silicon carbide-based fabrication. The chips manufactured in these plants will be used in automobiles, aerospace, defence, wireless devices, electric vehicles (EVs), data centres and consumer electronics.
Vaishnaw informed that the Centre is providing free design tools to universities and startups under the Chips to Start-Up (C2S) initiative to strengthen the domestic chip design ecosystem. At least 11 organisations in the state have received these tools.
The National Institute of Electronics and IT (NIELIT) has already set up two centres and 35 accredited units in the state through which nearly 25,000 candidates have been trained in electronics, IT and emerging technologies.
The minister said Odisha’s startup ecosystem in electronics and emerging technologies has also gained momentum through specialised centres of entrepreneurship established by the Software Technology Parks of India in partnership with the state government and premier institutions.
The Electropreneur Park in Bhubaneswar, developed by the state government in collaboration with IIIT Bhubaneswar and Indian Electronics and Semiconductor Association has onboarded 37 startups focusing on electronics system design and manufacturing.
While the EmTek Centre of Entrepreneurship, set up in collaboration with Biju Patnaik University of Technology, Rourkela Steel Plant and IIT Bhubaneswar has supported 29 startups working on next-generation manufacturing technologies, the Virtual and Augmented Reality Centre of Entrepreneurship established to promote creative technologies has incubated 25 startups.