How to Get Free Synopsys, Cadence & Siemens EDA Tools via Chips-to-Startup (C2S)

Step-by-step guide on how Indian engineering students can access industry-grade $100k+ EDA software suites for free under the MeitY C2S programme.

By BitForBytes Editorial & Hardware Research Team, Official BitForBytes Hardware Publication · 2026-09-01 · 6 min read

The Million-Dollar Software You Can Access for Free

Commercial Electronic Design Automation (EDA) licenses from Synopsys, Cadence, and Siemens cost upwards of $50,000 to $150,000 per seat per year. Historically, only Tier-1 institutions (IITs, IISc, NITs) could afford them.

Under the Government of India's Chips-to-Startup (C2S) programme launched by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), over 100+ colleges across India have been provided centralized cloud access to the complete commercial EDA ecosystem.

What Tools Are Included in the C2S Bundle?

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    C2S EDA SOFTWARE MATRIX                  │
├─────────────────────┬───────────────────┬───────────────────┤
│ EDA VENDOR          │ TOOL NAME         │ PRIMARY USE       │
├─────────────────────┼───────────────────┼───────────────────┤
│ Synopsys            │ VCS               │ HDL Simulation    │
│ Synopsys            │ Design Compiler   │ RTL Synthesis     │
│ Synopsys            │ PrimeTime         │ Signoff STA       │
│ Synopsys            │ ICC2              │ Physical Design   │
│ Cadence             │ Virtuoso          │ Custom / Analog   │
│ Cadence             │ Innovus           │ Digital P&R       │
│ Cadence             │ Xcelium           │ Multi-core Sim    │
│ Siemens EDA         │ Calibre           │ DRC / LVS Signoff │
│ Siemens EDA         │ Questa            │ UVM Verification  │
└─────────────────────┴───────────────────┴───────────────────┘

How to Check If Your College Has C2S Access

1. Visit your department's VLSI / Microelectronics laboratory coordinator.
2. Ask if your institution is an approved partner under MeitY C2S (Chips to Startup).
3. If approved, you can obtain a secure VPN login to the centralized C-DAC EDA Cloud Server.

What If Your College Doesn't Have C2S? Use Open-Source Silicon!

If your institution is not yet enrolled, you can practice the exact same ASIC flow using world-class open-source tools:

• Simulation: Icarus Verilog + Verilator + GTKWave
• Synthesis: Yosys Open Synthesis Suite
• Place & Route: OpenROAD / OpenLane
• Timing: OpenSTA
• PDK: SkyWater 130nm / IHP 130nm open-source PDKs