JICA Facilitates Partnership Between IIT-H And Renesas Electronics To Drive India’s Semiconductor Innovation

Adding to its portfolio beyond urban transport and connectivity projects in India, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has facilitated a strategic collaboration between the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IIT-H) and Renesas Electronics Corporation, to drive innovation and talent development in India's semiconductor industry.

Supported by JICA, this partnership, through a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), highlights the strong relationship between Japan and India.

Renesas Electronics is a leading global supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions from Japan.

The MoU focuses on research and collaboration in the field of very-large-scale integration (VLSI) and embedded semiconductor systems.

Renesas will support curriculum development, hands-on learning, and outreach programmes at IIT-H to nurture semiconductor talent.

IIT-H engineering students will benefit from opportunities for internships and full-time employment with Renesas, aligning with India's "Make in India" strategy to establish a self-reliant semiconductor ecosystem for India and the world.

Supporting IIT-H as a long-term partner, JICA has extended financial assistance for campus development through official development assistance (ODA) loans totalling approximately Rs 1,500 crore and has implemented the technical cooperation project FRIENDSHIP.

This initiative is geared towards bolstering IIT-H's efforts to become a platform for academic and industrial collaborations between India and Japan.

JICA has been actively involved in supporting numerous large-scale infrastructure projects across India, while also planning collaboration with India to establish infrastructure projects in Southeast Asia.

Notable projects in India include the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail, the expansion of the Delhi Metro, the development of the Chennai Metro, and the Northeast Road Network Connectivity Improvement Project.

The organisation is backing the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail project by providing ODA loans, with a cumulative commitment of Japanese yen 1 trillion (Rs 59,396 crore) since 2017.

The agency is set to finance approximately 88 per cent of the financing requirement for the project, which is estimated to cost Rs 1.25 lakh crore.