From classrooms to cleanrooms, Bengal’s students power India’s chip dream: four of the nation’s first 33 indigenous semiconductors proudly trace their roots to the state.
Out of the first 33 ‘made-in-India’ semiconductor chips unveiled at SEMICON India 2025, four have been designed by students and researchers from West Bengal. The teams behind this breakthrough hail from NIT Durgapur, Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST) Shibpur and the University of Calcutta.
According to a report by The Wall, this marked a moment of pride for both the state and the nation.
Chips developed in West Bengal
- C2S0007: Analog Comparator – IIEST Shibpur
- C2S0001: LP Analog FE for Air Flow Detection – University of Calcutta
- C2S0048: Low Power Analog Air Flow Detection – University of Calcutta
- C2S0029: 16-bit Read-Write Asynchronous FIFO – NIT Durgapur
Calcutta University’s Department of Radio Physics has been at the forefront of this mission. Associate Professor Dr Soumya Pandit said students and researchers there have been working on chip design since 2023, and manufacturing has now begun.
“Earlier, we spent a large part of GDP on importing chips for televisions, computers and mobile phones. With the Chip-to-Startup programme and Design Linked Incentive (DLI) scheme, we now have access to advanced tools, making this work possible in India,” he explained.
Dr Pandit noted that the country will need around 85,000 integrated circuit designers over the next five years. Four semiconductor manufacturing plants have already been established in Gujarat, Assam, and Karnataka to complement design efforts.
Across West Bengal, institutions including IIT Kharagpur, IIEST Shibpur, MAKAUT Haringhata and NIT Durgapur are contributing to indigenous chip design, signalling the state’s growing role in India’s semiconductor journey.
Last week, at the inauguration of SEMICON India 2025 in New Delhi, Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw presented these indigenously developed chips to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Alongside academic test chips, India also unveiled its first VIKRAM3201 processor, developed by ISRO’s Semiconductor Laboratory. Designed to withstand the extreme conditions of space launch vehicles, this 32-bit processor builds on the legacy of the earlier VIKRAM1601 chip that has powered ISRO’s rockets since 2009.
The three-day conference underlined India’s ambition to become a full-stack semiconductor nation, moving beyond backend assembly into advanced chip design and fabrication.
Meanwhile, though Calcutta University slipped in the NIRF 2025 rankings, its success in chip design offers fresh hope for Bengal.
