Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Skill Development, Entrepreneurship and Jal Shakti, Rajeev Chandrasekhar inaugurated India’s first FutureLABS center in C-DAC Thiruvananthapuram on 12^th March 2024. This center, namely, “Centre for Semiconductor Chips & Systems for Strategic Electronics”, will be playing a crucial role in catalysing an ecosystem for next generation chip design, manufacturing, and research.

Among the other announcements, there was a collaboration announced between C-DAC (T) and the Ministry of Railways for the development of electric locomotive technologies. An MoU was signed between C-DAC(T) and Tata Power for the development and deployment of microgrid technologies. There was also the announcement for the transfer of technology of the electric vehicle wireless charger, developed by C-DAC(T) and VNIT Nagpur, to BelRise Industries Limited.

Along With key industry partners, the Minister addressed over 100 students and explained to them what this center will provide to them in terms of opportunities.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar said, “You have seen the amount of silicon in Chandrayaan 3 and electronics in INS Vikrant, both have deep roots in Kerala. The idea of FutureLABS is really a partnership between CDAC as the government system, industry, students, startups, and academia. Our vision is very clear in the government and in the industry, that the world’s digitisation and the digital economies of the world are expanding today at an unprecedented pace. Three areas have great potential for Indian startups and students — AI, Semiconductors, and the future of electronics. CDAC will be a willing and facilitating partner to create these labs within colleges and universities. This initiative will make Thiruvananthapuram India’s next innovation hub.”

Rajeev Chandrasekhar also explained the inherent necessity for such collaborations and initiatives. He said, “India has made tremendous strides in the semiconductors, for 75 years we had no presence in semiconductors at all, and in the last few years we have received 2.5 lakh crore of investments and we are now e creating an ecosystem that ranges from Fabs manufacturing, innovation, packaging, design, skills and research. The digitisation and digital technologies is accelerating at an unprecedented pace even in areas that are not intuitively digital, technology is making its presence felt. So clearly digitisation as a trend is increasing. The second trend is that of the Semiconductors and Artificial intelligence are two dominant technologies that are going to shape the future of what we know as Tech in the coming years. And the third, is that every system that you know today whether it’s the laptop, desktop or the serve, compute automotive, railways is being redesigned and re-architected almost from scratch. So there is an opportunity today to completely re-architect and redesign systems. I call this the next wave of startups, next wave of systems and the next wave of innovation, it’s what the future LABS is all about.

The industry partners in attendance highlighted how collaboration with C-DAC has bore fruit and therefore they will continue their support in enhancing Kerala’s tech innovation ecosystem.

Atul Deshmukh, VP eMobility, Kalyani Powertrain Ltd said, “We have been able to scale and excel because of the continuous support and strong leadership of Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar. We look forward to more such partnerships through these initiatives.”

Manoj Gupta, CEO, TP Renewable Microgrid Ltd said, “The collaboration between Tata Power and CDAC, is a historical moment. As an organisation, we have set up micro grids which are solar operated, with the battery technology which is recent to empower 200 villages in UP and Bihar. We will continue to do that in Kerala as well. With this collaboration we will be able to harness the power of microgrids.

Meenakshi Singh, Director, JMV LPS Ltd said, “The Minister’s great work and determination towards Digital India and Entrepreneurship has boosted many companies’ morale towards self-reliance and technology. JMV along with CDAC and Indian Railways has achieved a significant milestone. Three piece indigenous locomotive propulsion system. This home-grown technology of the locomotive propulsion system not only showcases our commitment to innovation but positions India as a global player in the field of railway propulsion systems. Additionally, we are contributing to the modernisation of the Railway maintenance and operations through the indigenously designed, developed and manufactured, AI based, predictive maintenance system for railway essence.