Rourkela: National Institute of Technology Rourkela (NIT Rourkela) has showcased Odisha’s growing capability in indigenous semiconductor and chip design at SEMICON India 2026, being held from September 17-19, 2026 at Yashobhoomi in New Delhi.
As part of the prestigious national semiconductor event, a chip designed by NIT Rourkela was presented to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi as part of an emblem featuring contributions from 20 institutions across India.
The emblem was presented by student designers representing the emerging generation of India’s semiconductor talent. Pradeep Kumar Mohanty, PhD Scholar of Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE), NIT Rourkela, was among the student designers who interacted with the Prime Minister on the occasion.
The featured ASCON AEAD Security Chip (C2S0091) was designed by Pradeep Kumar Mohanty under the supervision of Professor Ayas Kanta Swain and Professor Kamalakanta Mahapatra. The lightweight cryptographic security chip is designed to provide secure data encryption and authentication for resource-constrained Internet of Things (IoT) and embedded systems.
The chip was developed under the MeitY Chip-to-Startup (C2S) Programme, with the C2S project at NIT Rourkela led by Professor Kamalakanta Mahapatra and Professor Ayas Kanta Swain. The chip was fabricated at Semiconductor Complex Limited (SCL), Mohali, marking an important step in translating indigenous chip design into fabricated silicon.
NIT Rourkela is the only institution from Odisha to achieve this recognition at SEMICON India 2026, highlighting the state’s contribution to India’s growing semiconductor ecosystem.
The Institute has been contributing to chip design and semiconductor manpower development in Odisha since 1999 under the guidance of Professor Kamalakanta Mahapatra. Over the years, NIT Rourkela has focused on developing skilled professionals and providing students and researchers with opportunities to progress from chip design to fabrication and system-level applications.
NIT Rourkela continues to strengthen its efforts in semiconductor education, research and indigenous chip development. The Institute aims to contribute to the growth of Odisha’s semiconductor ecosystem by developing skilled semiconductor professionals, enabling indigenous chip development and building capabilities to transform chips into intelligent systems for societal and national applications.
