Indian semiconductor design companies backed by the Design Linked Incentive scheme are making significant strides, raising over $100 million and achieving key tape-outs that signal moving towards commercial production amid government support initiatives.
India’s push to build a domestic semiconductor design base is starting to produce investible companies, with firms backed by the Design Linked Incentive scheme having collectively raised more than $100 million in venture capital and completed 35 chip-design tape-outs, according to reporting in the Times of India. The milestones suggest the country’s chip ambition is moving beyond policy statements and early prototypes towards products that could eventually enter commercial production.
The latest example is Aheesa Digital Innovations, a Chennai-based fabless chip designer whose VIHAAN networking system-on-chip achieved first-pass silicon success on 15 August, after its tape-out on 26 January. In chipmaking, a tape-out is the point at which a finished design is sent for fabrication, while first-pass silicon success means the first manufactured version worked as intended. Aheesa says the chip, built for fibre broadband networking, is expected to move towards a production tape-out in 2027. The company also says it is developing chips and software platforms for broadband networking and security.
Aheesa’s progress has been matched by investor interest. Earlier this year, the company raised about ₹40 crore from the Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Fund Management Corporation’s seed fund and private investors, a sign that domestic capital is beginning to back Indian semiconductor design with more confidence. Design-Reuse reported that the company’s VIHAAN-I chip is a RISC-V-based broadband access system-on-chip designed for GPON and EPON applications, and that it is being manufactured by UMC.
The broader DLI programme is aimed at a wide range of applications, from satellite communications and drones to defence systems, automobiles, IoT devices, artificial intelligence, telecoms equipment, surveillance cameras and smart meters. Government-supported design access has also widened: advanced chip-design tools are now available to 455 organisations, including 350 academic institutions and 105 startups. Separately, under the Chips to Startup programme, 71 academic institutions have completed 245 tape-outs, building a pipeline of engineers and founders for the next stage of the industry.
Other DLI-backed firms have also reported technical progress. Vervesemi Microelectronics has reached first-pass silicon success for a BLDC motor-controller chip using an indigenous processor from Incore Semiconductor, while Netrasemi has tested a 12nm vision SoC with video-analytics acceleration. OptoML has received a 12nm compute-in-memory SoC intended to improve AI processing efficiency, Mindgrove Technologies is working with PRAMA India on possible use of its vision SoC in CCTV cameras, and IndieSemiC has secured global certification for its Bluetooth Low Energy 6 chip module.
The momentum matters because chip design is one of the most valuable parts of the semiconductor chain, accounting for as much as half of total value addition and roughly 15% to 35% of the bill of materials in electronic products, according to the reporting. It also comes as the government steps up its semiconductor push under Semicon 2.0, approved in July with an outlay of ₹1.27 lakh crore. The next test, however, will be whether more India-designed chips can move from validated silicon into mass production and long-term supply contracts.
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