MeitY Launches Two Indigenous Silicon Photonics Solutions at IIT Madras, TN
In April 2026, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) launched two indigenously developed silicon photonics technology solutions, namely a Silicon Photonics Process Design Kit (PDK) and a Universal Programmable Photonic Integrated Circuit (PPIC) Test Engine, at the Centre of Excellence for Programmable Photonic Integrated Circuits and Systems (CoE-CPPICS) at Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) in Chennai, Tamil Nadu (TN).
About Silicon Photonics Technologies:
PDK: It offers 50+ verified components for designing Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs) domestically, reducing dependence on foreign libraries and supporting indigenous chip development across startups, industry, defence, academia, and India’s semiconductor ecosystem.
PPIC: Universal PPIC Test Engine is an automated platform for testing, characterisation, and validation of photonic and optoelectronic modules, eliminating reliance on overseas facilities while accelerating chip development, reducing costs and delays, and enabling scalable validation for advanced photonic technologies.
Collaboration: The initiative involves SilTerra (Malaysia) for fabrication, izmo Microsystems (Bengaluru, Karnataka) for packaging, and IIT Madras (TN) as the research and development hub.