After Hugely Successful ‘AatmaNirbhar App Challenge’, Union Government Launches ‘Swadeshi Microprocessor Challenge’ 

Closely on the heels of its successful AatmaNirbhar app challenge, the Union Ministry Of Electronics And Information Technology (MeiyY) on Tuesday (Aug 18) launched “Swadeshi Microprocessor Challenge” to realise the ambition of self-reliance and a momentous stride towards “Atmanirbhar Bharat”.

Under the aegis of Microprocessor Development Programme of MeitY, IIT Madras and Center for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) have developed two microprocessors named Shakti (32 bit) and Vega (64 bit) respectively using Open Source Architecture. MeitY said that design, development & fabrication of these state-of-theart processor variants at foundry in the country and abroad, is a successful step to leapfrog to ultimate goal of vibrant ecosystem of Electronic System Design & Manufacturing in the country.

“Swadeshi Microprocessor Challenge- Innovate Solutions for #Aatmanirbhar Bharat” seeks to invite innovators, startups and students to use these microprocessors to develop various technology products, a government statement said.

The “Swadeshi Microprocessor Challenge” is part of the series of proactive, pre-emptive and graded measures taken by the Ministry to spur the technology-led innovation ecosystem in the country and staying at the forefront of digital adoption, it said.

“Open to students at all levels and startups, the Challenge demands contestants to not only tinker with these Swadeshi Processor IPs and 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 the near future," it said.

The Challenge spread over ten months, kick-starts with the registration process on Tuesday and culminates in June 2021, with an opportunity for 100 semi-finalists to win total ₹1 crore of the award, 25 finalists to win total ₹1 crore of the prize and top 10 teams entering the finale, will get the seed fund of total ₹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 #AtmaNirbharta of government, it said.

As one of the concrete steps towards realising 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, MeitY said.

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 (ESDM) in the country, it added.