India set to unveil new semiconductor projects as first ‘Made in India’ chips near launch

Krishnan said around Rs 63,000 crore has already been committed for fabs alone, leaving very limited fiscal space. Ten projects have been cleared so far and are at various stages of implementation.

“By before the end of this year, we should be seeing the first commercially India-made chips, which will come out of some of the facilities that are being built currently. Truly, India has established its footprint in this area very clearly,” he added.

Startups and design at the core

India’s early progress in semiconductors has been driven largely by startups and academia working on chip design.

“Startups in the semiconductor space are mostly in the design space. We have a design-linked incentive scheme for startups, which has been quite successful. There are about 23 startups that have been approved under that scheme,” Krishnan said.

He pointed to MeitY’s Chips to Startups program, which provides access to advanced EDA and design tools: “Currently, about 280 academic institutions are using those tools, and 72 startups are also using those tools. Now we are in the process of trying to see how the design-linked incentive scheme can be revamped in order to make it more attractive, to enable a broader cross-section of companies to actually take advantage of it and also to ensure that more risk capital is available.”

SEMICON India 2025: Confidence on display

The backdrop to these announcements is the upcoming SEMICON India 2025, to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 2 at Yashobhoomi, Delhi. The event has nearly doubled in scale compared to last year.

“This time around we are expecting delegates from 33 countries, about 50 plus CXOs who will attend. There are expected to be about 350 exhibitors, last year, the number was less than 200. So in that sense, it’s almost a doubling of the number of exhibitors,” Krishnan said.

He also noted: “Last year we did not have any country pavilions. This year, we are going to have four country pavilions. This year, there are going to be six specific country round tables. This year, we have nine states participating in the event. This reflects the growing confidence in India as a destination for manufacturing in the semiconductor space.”

Navigating tariffs and global risks

On concerns over potential disruptions due to tariffs or geopolitical supply chain pressures, Krishnan remained upbeat.

“So far what we have seen is that in India’s case, we are still in a zero tariff regime as far as electronics are concerned. What all the companies have assured us is that given the investments they’ve already made, they do not expect too much of a disruption,” he said.

“The technology doesn’t come from only one country. We look at a diversified set of countries from which we can draw technology. There will be some minor blips here and there, but I don’t think it seriously threatens the forward movement of the India Semiconductor Mission or the other programs, the PLI programs for electronics manufacture or the new electronic component manufacture scheme.”