DHRUV64

Why in News?

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) announced the launch of DHRUV64, an indigenous microprocessor that would strengthen the national indigenous processor pipeline.

• DHRUV64 – It is India’s 1^st fully indigenous 64-bit microprocessor.

Microprocessor – A single semiconductor chip that combines the essential functions of a computer (arithmetic and logic, control, storage, input, and output), serving as its central processing unit (CPU).

• Developed by – The Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) under MEITY’s Microprocessor Development Programme.

Key Features

• Technical Specifications – A 64-bit, dual-core microprocessor running at 1 GHz acts as the central “brain” of electronics.
• It is powerful enough to handle operating systems yet efficient enough for embedded deployments.
• Performance – Compared to consumer-grade chips -
  • It is far below smartphone/laptop processors that feature multiple cores, higher clock speeds, and integrated GPUs.
  • It lacks specialised blocks (e.g., GPUs, AI accelerators) that drive machine learning and graphics-heavy workloads.
• Architecture – Based on RISC-V, an open instruction set that is publicly available, and anyone can design a chip that follows it without paying a license fee for the instruction set itself.
• The Governments and research groups prefer RISC-V to avoid dependence on foreign-controlled IP.

DIR-V (Digital India RISC-V programme) – It creates a portfolio of indigenous RISC-V–based microprocessors for use across industry, military, and consumer technologies.

• Potential Applications – Consumer electronics, telecom subsystems, industrial automation, routers and networking gear, automotive modules.
• These systems focus on reliability and strong hardware–software integration rather than raw performance.
• India’s DIR-V Chips So Far – THEJAS32, THEJAS64, DHRUV64.
• India’s Indigenous Processor Ecosystem

Reference

The Hindu | DHRUV64 indigenous microprocessor