Centre sanctions 24 chip design projects in big push to India’s semiconductor industry

New Delhi: As many as 24 chip design projects have been sanctioned across areas such as video surveillance, drone detection, energy meters, microprocessors, satellite communications, and broadband and IoT Systems-on-Chip (SoCs) under the Centre’s Design Linked Incentive Scheme (DLI) scheme, according to an official statement issued on Sunday.

Additionally, 95 companies have received access to industry-grade Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools, significantly reducing design and infrastructure costs for Indian chip design startups.

Semiconductor chip design is the main value driver in the supply chain, contributing up to 50 per cent of value addition and 30–35 per cent of global semiconductor sales via the fabless segment.

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DLI-supported projects are scaling rapidly, with 16 tape-outs, 6 ASIC chips, 10 patents, 1,000+ engineers engaged, and over 3× private investment having been leveraged, the statement said.

The Design Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme is being implemented by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) with an outlay of Rs 76,000 crore. The programme supports investments in semiconductor and display manufacturing as well as the design ecosystem. The DLI Scheme operates under this programme, ensuring end-to-end backing for design, fabrication and productisation. C-DAC, a premier R&D organisation of the MeitY, is responsible for the implementation of the DLI Scheme as the nodal agency.

The Semicon India Programme aims to catalyse a strong, self-reliant chip design ecosystem by providing financial incentives and access to advanced design infrastructure for domestic startups and MSMEs.

The scheme is now driving the transition from design validation to productisation, enabling start-ups and MSMEs to move toward volume manufacturing, system integration, and market deployment. This evolving ecosystem not only strengthens India’s domestic semiconductor capabilities but also positions the country as a credible player in global chip design and innovation, the statement said.

India’s semiconductor ecosystem is being strengthened through a coordinated institutional framework that combines policy leadership, investment support, capacity building, and indigenous technology development. The key programmes and agencies provide end-to-end backing — from incentivising chip design and manufacturing to developing skilled talent and fostering open-source microprocessor architectures — ensuring India’s progression toward a self-reliant and globally competitive semiconductor design ecosystem.

The Chips to Startup (C2S) Programme, being implemented, is an initiative aimed at academic organisations spread across the country to generate 85,000 industry-ready manpower at B.Tech, M.Tech, and PhD levels, specialised in semiconductor chip design.

The DLI scheme aims to offset the existing disabilities in India’s domestic semiconductor design industry. It seeks to help Indian companies move up the semiconductor value chain.

Without strong fabless capability, a nation remains dependent on imported core technologies even if electronics are manufactured locally. Building a robust fabless ecosystem, therefore, enables India to own the most critical layer of the value chain, retain intellectual property, reduce imports, attract manufacturing, and establish long-term technological leadership, the statement further said.