A security chip developed by the National Institute of Technology Rourkela has been presented to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at SEMICON India 2026, highlighting Odisha’s growing role in India’s semiconductor design ecosystem.
The ASCON AEAD Security Chip (C2S0091) was showcased in a commemorative emblem representing chip-design contributions from 20 institutions across India at the three-day exhibition being held from September 17 to 19 at Yashobhoomi in New Delhi. Pradeep Kumar Mohanty, a PhD scholar in NIT-R’s Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, was among the student designers who interacted with the Prime Minister during the presentation.
The chip was designed by Mohanty under the supervision of professors Ayas Kanta Swain and Kamalakanta Mahapatra. It is a lightweight cryptographic chip intended to provide secure data encryption and authentication for resource-constrained Internet of Things devices and embedded systems.
The project was developed under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology’s Chip-to-Startup Programme, which gives students and academic institutions exposure to the complete chip-development cycle. At NIT-R, the project is led by Professors Kamalakanta Mahapatra and Ayas Kanta Swain.
The chip was subsequently fabricated at Semiconductor Complex Limited in Mohali. That step moved the project beyond academic design into fabricated silicon, connecting university research with a manufacturing facility and demonstrating the institutional chain needed to develop indigenous semiconductor technologies.
For NIT-R, the recognition follows more than two decades of work in semiconductor education and chip design. The institute has been developing semiconductor manpower and research capabilities since 1999 under the guidance of Professor Kamalakanta Mahapatra. Its work has covered stages ranging from circuit and chip design to fabrication and system-level applications.
The presentation places an institution outside India’s traditional technology hubs among the academic centres contributing to the country’s semiconductor talent pool. It also underlines the role of universities in building the skills and research capabilities required for chip design, embedded systems and connected devices.
NIT-R is now seeking to expand its semiconductor research and training activities. According to the report, the institute’s focus includes developing skilled professionals, designing indigenous chips and converting chip-level technologies into intelligent systems for applications of societal and national importance.
