Ashwini Vaishnaw Unveils Design Facilities To Boost India’s Semiconductor Production

To boost India’s semiconductor landscape, IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has unveiled two new state-of-the-art design facilities in Noida and Bengaluru.

During the inauguration, Vaishnaw said that Renesas Electronics India Private Limited is India’s first design centre to work on cutting-edge 3 nanometer chip design.

With these design facilities, the government aims at expanding end-to-end semiconductor capabilities from architecture to testing in India, said Renesas Electronics chief executive officer and managing director Hidetoshi Shibata.

Besides, the facilities will also focus on helping more than 250 academic institutions and startups through government-backed initiatives like Chips to Startup (C2S) Programme & Design Linked Incentive (DLI) Scheme, he added.

Notably, Renesas Electronics is a Japan-based semiconductor solution provider company. The newly launched design facilities in India are a part of Renesas Electronics’ Indian subsidiary. 

Besides, the IT minister also launched a new semiconductor learning kit which includes  advanced EDA (Electronic, Design, Automation) software tools. This kit aims at bolstering practical hardware skills among engineering students. 

“With manufacturing of electronic products in smart phones, laptops, servers, medical equipment, defense equipment, automobiles and many other sectors, the demand for semiconductors is going to increase exponentially. Therefore, this momentum for growth of the semiconductor industry is timely,” Vaishnaw added.

India’s Semiconductor Journey

In 2022, the government of India launched the first phase of its semiconductor mission to establish the country as a global hub for electronics manufacturing and design. 

This came a year after the government launched the Semicon India programme, infusing INR 76,000 Cr to incentivise silicon semiconductor fabs, display fabs, compound semiconductors, and more.

Currently, the Centre is mulling to roll out the second phase of the India Semiconductor Mission. This phase may also offer support for gases and other elements needed for semiconductor production.

Last week, Amitesh Kumar Sinha was named as the new CEO of ISM.

While India’s semiconductor ecosystem is still at a nascent stage, the segment is attracting several global and homegrown companies.

For instance, Hyderabad-based engineering services provider Cyient recently announced  the official launch of Cyient Semiconductors. The new subsidiary will focus on scaling application-specific integrated (ASIC) turnkey solutions for Cyient’s customers. 

Similarly, Kaynes Technologies’ subsidiary Kaynes Semicon is looking to deliver India’s first packaged semiconductor chip by July. 

According to an Inc42 report, the Indian semiconductor market is projected to become a $150 Bn opportunity by 2030.