Gujarat, Tamil Nadu keen on Semi-conductor initiative by Karnataka: Priyank Kharge
BENGALURU: Minister for IT and BT Priyank Kharge on Wednesday said that Karnataka’s Semiconductor Fabless Accelerator Lab (SFAL) to incubate semiconductor startups is a successful initiative and states such as Gujarat and Tamil Nadu are keen on replicating this “unique” model.
He told reporters here that SFAL-backed startups ABCRL, Calligo Technologies, and Morphing Machines have developed innovative technologies. The government has spent over Rs 27 crore on SFAL, the centre of excellence, which has helped over 95 companies and incubated 43. “This is a niche area. Maybe, only eight countries are using it and our initiative has helped more than 200 innovations. SAFL-incubated startups (about 25) raised around Rs 114 crore and have a combined valuation of Rs 500 crore. They created 800 highly skilled jobs,” he said.
The government has approved SAFL 2.0 for the next five years. “Currently, India is the second-largest consumer of semiconductors globally. Our market size is expected to touch $64bn by 2026. Because of rapid adoption of technologies and penetration of networking technologies such as 5G, 6G and IOT, our electronics market consumption will be $400bn in 2025,” Priyank said.
“Karnataka alone can propel the country to become a product nation from being a service nation. It is future ready and concentrating on skilling and incubation for innovation. This is not our demand, but our need. Because 70% of design talent is in Karnataka. When we went to America, we were proud to hear from them that every chip that goes into the market has a Kannadiga writing a code for it,” he said.
He claimed that SFAL, which was initiated by him in 2023 as a collaboration between the state government and industry stakeholders, produced highly skilled engineers who got a salary package of Rs 1.5 lakh per month.
Chip to alert vehicle health
AB Circuits and Research Labs (ABCRL) has designed a chip that sends alerts on the health of vehicles, especially the alignment of wheels, said company’s co-founder and CEO chief Tushar Bhattacharya. It will also ensure that the tyres are in good condition. Initially, two-wheelers and four-wheelers will have this chip. It will later be installed in multi-axle vehicles. The KSRTC and BMTC can benefit from this technology, he said and claimed to have received an order for 15 lakh chips.
ABCRLis one of the 10 startups set up under the prestigious Chips to Startup (C2S) scheme of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. CEO of SFAL Sridhar and IT, BT secretary Ekroop Caur were present.