- The government has approved 23 semiconductor design projects under the Design Linked Incentive Scheme (DLI) with a total funding of ₹76 crore to support the semiconductor ecosystem.
- DLI Scheme offers up to 50% financial incentives for prototyping, scaling, and commercialization, along with access to EDA tools and IP cores.
- Startups, MSMEs, and domestic companies are benefiting through milestone-linked funding, with many firms successfully making chip designs and raising venture capital.
India’s Design Linked Incentive Scheme is playing a key role in growing the country’s semiconductor design ecosystem. With the government recently approving 23 semiconductor design projects, the scheme supports startups, MSMEs, and domestic companies by providing important financial help and design infrastructure. This scheme is important for building India’s strength in semiconductor design and commercialization, improving technological independence.
Design Linked Incentive Scheme: Helping India’s Semiconductor Design Ecosystem
Designing semiconductors is complex and needs a lot of investment and innovation. The Design Linked Incentive Scheme (DLI) is focused on improving India’s semiconductor design skills by solving development challenges and supporting local players. Through this scheme, a strong ecosystem is being built to support early prototyping, scaling, and full production of semiconductor products.
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Main Benefits and Financial Support under the DLI Scheme
The scheme offers strong support including electronic design automation (EDA) tools and intellectual property (IP) cores to make the initial design work easier. Financial help under DLI includes:
- Covering up to 50% of eligible costs, capped at ₹15 crore per application, for design prototyping, scaling, and volume production.
- Extra incentives between 6% to 4% of net sales turnover over five years, capped at ₹30 crore per application, to encourage deployment and commercialization of chip solutions.
Who Can Benefit from the DLI Scheme?
The scheme mainly focuses on startups, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and domestic companies working actively in semiconductor design. These entities get financial help and access to needed design tools to compete well at global levels.
Recent Approvals and Project Highlights
Since starting in December 2021, the DLI Scheme has approved 23 semiconductor chip design projects across different sectors including surveillance cameras, energy meters, microprocessor IPs, and networking applications. Some important points are:
- Approval of projects totaling ₹803.08 crore, covering EDA tool costs and design development.
- Successful production of 20 chip designs from 17 academic institutions by Semiconductor Complex Limited (SCL), Mohali.
- Funding linked to milestones that make sure financial support follows real progress towards commercialization.
Access to Electronic Design Automation (EDA) Tools and IP Cores
About 278 academic institutions and 72 startups have been given access to advanced EDA tools under the chip to system-to-software (C2S) and DLI schemes. These tools support early-stage prototyping and innovation, speeding up the semiconductor design process and improving quality.
Milestone-Linked Funding and Commercialization Success Stories
The DLI scheme’s funding model links support directly to design milestones, encouraging startups and companies to make timely progress. Ten of the 23 supported companies have successfully secured venture capital to scale production after developing prototypes. Also, six firms have completed prototype tape-outs at leading semiconductor foundries, showing important steps towards commercialization.