New Delhi, Jan 4 (NationPress) A total of 24 chip design initiatives have been approved in various domains including video surveillance, drone detection, energy meters, microprocessors, satellite communications, and broadband and IoT Systems-on-Chip (SoCs) under the government’s Design Linked Incentive Scheme (DLI), as per an official announcement made on Sunday.

Moreover, 95 firms have gained access to industry-grade Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools, which significantly cut down design and infrastructure expenses for Indian chip design startups.

The design of semiconductor chips is a crucial value driver in the supply chain, contributing up to 50% of value addition and 30–35% of global semiconductor sales through the fabless segment.

Projects supported by DLI are progressing swiftly, with 16 tape-outs, 6 ASIC chips, 10 patents, over 1,000 engineers engaged, and more than 3× private investment being utilized, as stated.

The Design Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme, with an allocation of Rs 76,000 crore, is being executed by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). This initiative encourages investments in semiconductor and display manufacturing as well as the design ecosystem, providing comprehensive support for design, fabrication, and productization. The C-DAC, a leading R&D organization under MeitY, oversees the DLI Scheme as the nodal agency.

The Semicon India Programme aims to foster a robust, self-sufficient chip design ecosystem by offering financial incentives and access to advanced design infrastructure for local startups and MSMEs.

This scheme is facilitating the shift from design validation to productization, allowing startups and MSMEs to advance toward volume manufacturing, system integration, and market deployment. This evolving ecosystem not only fortifies India’s domestic semiconductor capabilities but also establishes the nation as a credible participant in global chip design and innovation, according to the statement.

India’s semiconductor ecosystem is being bolstered through a unified institutional framework that integrates policy leadership, investment support, capacity building, and indigenous technology development. Key programs and agencies provide extensive backing, from incentivizing chip design and manufacturing to developing skilled talent and promoting open-source microprocessor architectures, ensuring India’s progress toward a self-sufficient and globally competitive semiconductor design ecosystem.

The Chips to Startup (C2S) Programme, currently being implemented, is aimed at academic institutions nationwide to produce 85,000 industry-ready professionals at the B.Tech, M.Tech, and PhD levels, specializing in semiconductor chip design.

The DLI scheme seeks to address existing challenges in India’s domestic semiconductor design sector, helping Indian companies ascend the semiconductor value chain.

A robust fabless capability is essential; without it, a nation remains reliant on imported core technologies even if electronics are locally manufactured. Therefore, developing a solid fabless ecosystem enables India to control the most critical layer of the value chain, safeguard intellectual property, reduce imports, attract manufacturing, and cultivate long-term technological leadership, as emphasized in the statement.