25 startups being evaluated for semiconductors design subsidy scheme: Rajeev Chandrasekhar

Rajeev Chandrasekhar said the government can come up with a PLI scheme for electronics ancillary industry.

Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar on July 27 said that the ministry is currently evaluating 25 startups for availing government financial support under the semiconductor design subsidy scheme. Five startups have already availed the incentive, Chandrasekhar added.

The minister was speaking to mediapersons ahead of the beginning of the second edition of the annual SemiconIndia conference in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

Chandrasekhar's statement and the annual semiconductor conference in Gandhinagar comes at a time when the Indian government wants to establish a thriving semiconductor manufacturing hub in the country, rivaling countries like Taiwan.

Major players such as Foxconn, Micron and AMD are set to attend the conference.

"In the design part of the semiconductor ecosystem, we are charging forward today with almost 30 startups. Five startups have been given direct government financial support and 25 more are being evaluated," Chandrasekhar told media persons.

The financial support to startups will be provided under the Design-Linked Incentive Scheme which was announced by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in 2021.

Under the scheme, financial incentives and design infrastructure support are set to be extended to domestic companies, startups and MSMEs across various stages of development and deployment of semiconductor design for integrated circuits (ICs), chipsets, system on chips (SoCs), systems & IP cores and semiconductor-linked design for over a period of 5 years.

Apart from that, while responding to a query on the development of electronics ancillary industries in the country, Chandrasekhar said that the government can come up with a PLI scheme if necessary.

"The necessary policy framework is already in place to create a vibrant component ecosystem. And if there is any need for the government to intervene and create more PLI type of schemes, we will do so.