India’s Rs 76,000 Crore Semiconductor Mission: 23 Chip Designs Cleared With Rs 803 Crore Support For Startups And Colleges

The Ministry of Electronics and IT has approved 23 chip design projects for financial support under the Design Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme, part of India’s Rs 76,000 crore Semicon India Programme aimed at building a domestic semiconductor ecosystem, the Ministry of Electronics and IT said in a statement.

The DLI Scheme, with a total outlay of Rs 1,000 crore, is focused on supporting startups, MSMEs, and academic institutions engaged in semiconductor design by addressing high entry barriers, long development cycles, and global competition.

So far, 278 academic institutions and 72 startups have gained access to advanced Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools under the DLI framework.

Of these, 23 entities have been sanctioned for financial assistance for designing chips across areas such as surveillance systems, energy meters, networking, and microprocessor IPs.

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Notably, 20 chip designs from 17 academic institutions have already been fabricated at the Semiconductor Laboratory (SCL) in Mohali. Additionally, 10 companies supported under DLI have secured venture capital funding, while 6 have completed tape-outs at semiconductor foundries.

The total value of the approved projects under DLI now stands at Rs 803.08 crore, including the cost of EDA tools.

Fund disbursal is milestone-based and tied to stages such as prototyping and chip deployment.

The scheme offers up to 50 per cent support for design and prototyping (up to Rs 15 crore per application) and 4-6 per cent incentives on net sales (capped at Rs 30 crore) for commercialisation.

It is implemented in consultation with stakeholders, and modifications will be made as needed based on industry feedback.

This update was presented in the Lok Sabha by Union Electronics and IT Minister Jitin Prasada.

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