The All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has launched curricula for a Bachelors in Tech Electronics VLSI Design and Technology and a Diploma in Integrated Circuit Manufacturing.
A press statement from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) claimed the courses will provide a variety of employment opportunities for Indian students in both domestic and international companies. The curricula will be uploaded on the AICTE portal. It is available for all AICTE-affiliated colleges, universities, and technical institutions.
An integrated circuit or microchip (IC) is a set of electronic circuits on a small chip. An IC is the fundamental building block of all modern electronic devices. Very-large-scale integration (VLSI) is the process of creating an integrated circuit (IC) by combining many metal oxide silicon transistors onto a single chip. The VLSI sector is a high-paying industry and immune to automation, the government said. It is expected to create an environment to scale up the semiconductor ecosystem.
MietY said that the usual starting salaries for a fresher role in a VLSI company vary from INR 1 million (US$ 12,076) to INR 20 million per annum (US$ 241,535) depending on the company, with an average annual salary of INR 14 million (US$ 169,074) per annum.
The Prime Minister said that it is investing heavily in skilling and training young Indians for the needs of the 21st century. It has an exceptional semiconductor design talent pool that makes up 20% of the world’s semiconductor design engineers. Almost all the top 25 semiconductor design companies have their design or research and development centres in India, he mentioned.
The Semicon India programme, which has a total outlay of INR 760 billion (US$ 9.1 billion), aims to develop the semiconductor and display manufacturing ecosystem in the country. The programme offers financial support to companies investing in the semiconductors, display manufacturing, and design sectors.
In line with the Semicon India programme, the Chips to Startup (C2S) programme aims to train 85,000 engineers (bachelors, masters, and research level combined) qualified in ESDM disciplines over 5 years. Necessary tie-ups with 82 technical education institutes have been made. For example, last year, the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IIT-Hyderabad) launched a Bachelors in Tech (Electronics Engineering) with specialisations in IC Design and Technology.
As OpenGov Asia reported, there is a constant need for research and development, as well as the translation of that research and development into actual manufacturable products. Semiconductors are a technology that must be constantly renewed, and the constant renewal aspect is critical when considering the semiconductor economy and ecosystem. The press release outlined the following courses from the AICTE Curriculum:
- Tech in Electronics (VLSI Design and Technology)
- Introduction to IC Design and Technology
- Digital systems labs
- Semiconductor Device Fundamentals
- Analog Electronics
- Introduction to CMOS processing
- Introduction to VLSI Design
- Analog IC Design
- Statis Timing Analysis
- Fabrication and characterisation lab
- Physics of electrical engineering materials
Diploma in IC Manufacturing
- Introduction to VLSI Fabrication
- Semiconductor fab familiarisation
- Electronic devices and circuits
- Clean room technologies
- Semiconductor technology equipment maintenance
- Allied activities for foundry like safety protocol for foundry, vacuum technology
- Industrial automation
- Semiconductor packaging and testing, electronics system assembly, or product design
- Renewable energy technologies
