Govt Earmarks INR 1,000 Cr To Fund Semiconductor Design Startups: Rajeev Chandrasekhar

While the government has been taking many initiatives lately to make India the semiconductor hub, it has set aside INR 1,000 Cr to fund semiconductor design startups, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, said during an event.

As shared by the minister, the government has dedicated an INR 1,000 Cr fund that will directly be used to fund and invest in, along with matching contributions from the State, as capital into semiconductor design startups, ET reported.

In addition, the government wants to ensure that the next generation of devices and products, like India Stack or next-gen platforms, are being architected and designed in India, Chandrasekhar said while speaking at Bengaluru Tech Summit 2022.

This will further the goal of achieving at least 50 to a 100 semiconductor design startups in different use cases and different devices, across the next one or two years, getting started out and building out devices, he added.

Government’s Push To Fuel Semiconductor Mission In India

The minister also announced that the government has committed an investment of $30 Bn in electronics and semiconductors, of which $20 Bn will be invested in electronics manufacturing and design, and $10 Bn in semiconductor manufacturing research and design.

Earlier this year, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) formed an expert panel for India’s semiconductor mission and to provide specific inputs to develop the ecosystem in the country. At the time of the formation, it was said that the panel would focus on supporting startups and SMEs in the domain.

In December last year, the government approved the Semicon India programme, with an outlay of INR 76,000 Cr, to develop India’s semiconductors and display manufacturing ecosystem.

As per the government’s vision document, India will use semiconductors worth $70-$80 Bn to manufacture electronics products worth $300 Bn by 2026.

For any electronic device, semiconductors act as the essential component to manufacture those devices. As the shortage of semiconductors often leads to an increase in input costs for many products and services, the government is looking at making the country self-reliant in the semiconductor segment across innovation, designing, manufacturing.