BHUBANESWAR: The state government is all set to implement its ambitious Odisha Chip (O-Chip) programme to boost the electronic sector.
The programme that will institutionally address the difficulties experienced by the fabless ecosystem aims at creating a state-of-the-art facility for semiconductor designing and manufacturing and generating high-end jobs.
The unique initiative O-Chip has been conceptualised as a one-stop shop for fabless product companies and startups where they can be provided advanced designing and testing infrastructure, mentoring support from the best minds in the industry and ease of business operations.
Official sources said it is a government-supported Centre of Excellence (CoE) that will bring top rated industry associations and research institutions under one umbrella.
As part of the programme, the state government will set up a centralised fabrication laboratory (FabLab) where young and aspiring engineers can design and build smart innovative devices and chips tailored to specific needs.
This apart, state-of-the-art infrastructure with cutting-edge design and testing tools, which can enable startups, companies and academic institutions to collaborate and utilise their potential, will also be provided under the programme.
Although the location of the FabLab and the ecosystem to be created has not been finalised, the facility is likely to come up on the premises of O-HUB, the state's maiden centralised incubator, wholly owned and operated by the government.
Sources said the government plans to spend around Rs 200 crore in the next five years on the programme that will promote a conducive fabless ecosystem along with chip design companies and startups and create more than 5000 high-end jobs.
Usually, semiconductor design involves usage of highly advanced electronic design automation (EDA) software to automate the design process and proprietary fabrication processes.
Since a single chip can house billions of transistors, the state-of-the-art EDA tools, a critical component of the O-Chip programme will be beneficial for engineers thinking out-of-the-box for designing modern semiconductors.
Principal secretary of Electronics and IT department Manoj Kumar Mishra said the state government has provisioned Rs 30 crore in the 2023-24 budget for the programme that will create skilled professionals in chip design and system design space.
"This first-of-its-kind initiative will be implemented very soon. A fabless ecosystem can potentially reduce the country's electronics import bill, raise the contribution of the ESDM ecosystem to the GDP, and accord strategic benefits in critical areas such as defence, space and telecom," Mishra added.