Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar.
| Photo Credit: PTI

The Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) at Valiyamala in Thiruvananthapuram is being “actively considered” as a possible location for the proposed Bharat Semiconductor Research Centre, Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar has said.

Mr. Chandrasekhar was giving a special address at SemiconIndia 2024: Future Design – Catalysing India’s Semiconductor Ecosystem organised by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) here on March 6 (Wednesday).

“I hope we can make that come true in the coming months,” he said.

The proposed centre will be a “comparable institution” to the Belgium-headquartered Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre (IMEC), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the U.S., and the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), Taiwan, he said.

Boost to space sector

Welcoming the gathering, VSSC director S. Unnikrishnan Nair said a vibrant semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem within the country will help the space sector. ISRO is targeting 100% indigenisation of launch vehicle and spacecraft systems, he said.

Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC) director V. Narayanan, IIST Dean Kuruvilla Joseph, IBM managing director and general manager (India) Sandip Patel, Cadence Design Systems group director Jayashankar Narayanankutty, Marvell Technology country head Navin Bishnoi, Renesas Electronics country head Malini Narayanamoorthy and NVIDIA managing director (South Asia) Vishal Dhupar were among those present.