The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) has sanctioned 23 chip design projects under the Rs 1,000-crore Design Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme, part of the Rs 76,000-crore Semicon India Programme aimed at strengthening the nation’s semiconductor ecosystem.

The scheme supports startups, MSMEs, and academic institutions with incentives for prototyping and commercialisation, offering up to 50 percent of eligible costs (capped at Rs 15 crore per application) and four to six percent incentives on net sales turnover for five years (capped at Rs 30 crore). Since its launch in December 2021, 278 academic institutions and 72 startups have accessed advanced Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools and IP cores critical for chip design.

Of the newly sanctioned projects, designs target applications such as surveillance cameras, energy meters, networking solutions, and microprocessor IPs. Ten companies have secured venture capital, while six have completed prototype tapeouts at global foundries. Additionally, 20 chip designs from 17 institutions have been successfully fabricated at the Semiconductor Laboratory in Mohali. The sanctioned project outlay under the DLI Scheme now totals Rs 803.08 crore, signalling India’s accelerating progress in building a robust domestic chip design capability.