Parliament Question: Free of Cost Advanced Semiconductor Tools to Universities

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1626 TO BE ANSWERED ON: 29.07.2026 FREE OF COST ADVANCED SEMICONDUCTOR TOOLS TO UNIVERSITIES 1626. SHRI B K PARTHASARATHI: Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government has provided access to advanced semiconductor/chip design tools from multiple companies to universities free of cost under its semiconductor and chip design promotion initiatives; (b) if so, the details of the number and list of universities that have been provided access to such chip design tools, State-wise including district-wise details for Andhra Pradesh; (c) the details of the total utilisation of these tools including design hours consumed, State and district-wise particularly for Andhra Pradesh; (d) the details of the number of chip tape-outs completed using these tools, institution and State-wise including chips fabricated domestically and overseas; and (e) the details of the funds incurred by the Government for provision of such tools and associated capacity-building support, year-wise since inception? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI JITIN PRASADA) (a) to (e): Guided by the vision of Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to make India a global hub for semiconductor chip design, the Government has undertaken focused policy interventions and made sustained investments in semiconductor education, research and design infrastructure, positioning India as a global hub for semiconductor design talent. The Government has accorded high priority to talent development and workforce capacity building through various initiatives such Chips to Startup (C2S) Programme and the Design Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme. This includes providing free-of-cost access to Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools, faculty development, curriculum enhancement, chip fabrication opportunities, industry– academia collaboration, and startup support provided through the ChipIN Centre with its details available at https://c2s.gov.in/chipin.jsp These initiatives have helped create a strong semiconductor design talent base. As per industry estimates, India accounts for about 20% of the world's semiconductor design engineers, with more than 1.25 lakh semiconductor design engineers working in the country. Following are the outcomes of these initiatives:(i) The access of free-of-cost EDA tools has been provided to academic institutions and startups across the country from 11 leading semiconductor companies, namely Synopsys, Cadence, Siemens EDA, AMD, Renesas, Keysight, Ansys, Silvaco, Cadre Design Systems, Compcarta and AsterQuanta. (ii) State-wise list of 437 organizations which are provided access to state-of-the-art EDA tools at no cost is at Annexure-I, including district-wise details of Andhra Pradesh. This includes 332 academic institutions and 105 startups. (iii) A cumulative 3.26 Crore hours of EDA tool usage has been recorded across all States. State-wise details of EDA tool utilization (in hours) are at Annexure-II including district-wise details of Andhra Pradesh. (iv) 254 designs taped out by 67 academic institutions including 175 designs taped out domestically at 180nm, SCL Mohali and 79 designs taped out at overseas foundry. The State-wise details of these taped outs are at Annexure-III. (v) Total fund incurred for provision of EDA tools and associated capacity-building support at academic institutions is Rs. 166 Crore as per Year-wise details at Annexure-IV. Annexure I, II, III, IV are placed at https://c2s.gov.in/Lok_Sabha_PQ_1626.pdf *****