In a move that could help hardware start-ups in the country, Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) has set up a new incubation facility and a lab wherein they can test their products.

This incubation centre has been set up at the premises of Tessolve Semiconductor at Electronics City. The lab will provide testing equipment such as oscilloscopes that can test various aspects of chip testing like reliability, failure analysis etc.

These kinds of facilities help a hardware company reduce product design cycle and operational costs in a big way and also reduces their hassles in terms of taking it to far flung places (to test), according to Kris Gopalakrishnan, who heads the IT Vision Committee of Karnataka.

Called Semiconductor Measurement Analysis and Reliability Test (SMART), a total of ₹ 60 crore has gone into this setup, with the State government pumping in ₹14 crore and the balance from the Centre. The project is expected to be completed in two and half years, STPI officials said.

Industry watchers believe that it is high time India looked at building products that can be designed and manufactured locally, for the local market. “India has always struggled to have a incubation and testing centre in the same premises and this setup would help lot of entrepreneurs, much like the way it happens on developed markets,” said S Sadagopan, head, IIIT Bangalore.

Addressing delegates at the centre, IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that while India had done a good job in services, the same cannot be said of manufacturing.

“As India consumes electronics worth $100 billion every year from smartphones to high-end medical devices, the government is committed to encourage local manufacturing,” he added.

Sops given by STPI include plug-n-play office space, mentoring, marketing assistance in addition to tech infrastructure such as data centre and finishing schools.

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