In a major boost to Aatmanirbhar Bharat, the Centre on Tuesday launched the Rs 4.30 crore “Swadeshi Microprocessor Challenge- Innovate Solutions for Aatmanirbhar Bharat” to provide further impetus to the strong ecosystem of start-up, innovation and research in the country.
Launched by Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, the Challenge gives the opportunity to develop products using IIT Madras and CDAC
microprocessors. IIT Madras and Center for Development of Advance Computing (CDAC) have developed two microprocessors named SHAKTI (32 bit) and VEGA (64 bit) respectively using Open Source Architecture under the aegis of Microprocessor Development Programme of Ministry of Electronics and IT.
Keeping up with the spirit of #AatmaNirbharBharat happy to announce Swadeshi Microprocessor Challenge. Make innovative products using microprocessors from IIT Madras & CDAC.
Invite students, Startups & innovators to take part in this challenge.
Details- https://t.co/SSPZHi6gAe pic.twitter.com/6YQiQcmWRn— Ravi Shankar Prasad (@rsprasad) August 18, 2020
“Swadeshi Microprocessor Challenge- Innovate Solutions for Aatmanirbhar Bharat” seeks to invite innovators, startups and students to use these microprocessors to develop various technology products.
The Challenge spread over 10 months, kick-starts with the registration process on August 18 and culminates in June 2021, with an opportunity for 100 Semi-finalists to win total Rs one crore of the award, 25 finalists to win total Rs one crore of the award and top 10 teams entering the finale, will get the seed fund of total Rs 2.30 crore and 12 months incubation support.
Above all, participants will get an opportunity to translate their innovations around Swadeshi Processors, showcase them at a higher viewership platform and facilitate them to scale from ideation to marketplace, thereby standing a chance to contribute to the overall mission of Atma Nirbharta of Government.
As one of the concrete steps towards realizing the ambition of self-reliance and a momentous stride towards “Atmanirbhar Bharat”, this initiative is aimed at not only meeting India’s future requirements of strategic and industrial sectors but also has the potential to mitigate the issues of security, licensing, technology obsolescence and most crucially cutting dependency on imports.
The design, development and fabrication of these state-of-the-art processor variants at a foundry in the country and abroad, is the successful step to leapfrog to the ultimate goal of a vibrant ecosystem of Electronic System Design & Manufacturing in the country.
The “Swadeshi Microprocessor Challenge” is part of the series of proactive, preemptive and graded measures taken by Ministry of Electronics and IT to spur the technology-led innovation ecosystem in the country and staying at the forefront of digital adoption. Open to students at all levels and startups, the Challenge demands contestants to not only tinker with these Swadeshi Processor IPs & facilitate them with innovating the frugal solutions for societal needs but also make available the entire home-grown ecosystem around Swadeshi Processors to develop the complex designs for catering to both global and domestic requirements in near future.
Ministry of Electronics and IT offers a slew of benefits to the contestants and technology resources that include not only the internship opportunities and regular technical guidance from the best VLSI & Electronics System Design Experts in the country but also the business mentorship & funding support, facilitated by Incubation Centres. Financial support to the tune of Rs. 4.30 Crore at various stages of the Challenge for developing the hardware prototype and incubating a start-up is being offered.
