Policies and investments are critical to harnessing Bharat’s true edge — its people. India currently has more than 20 per cent of the global design workforce. According to an industry estimate, the world is expected to face a shortage of over one million semiconductor professionals by the start of the next decade. India is preparing to fill this gap.
India has emerged as a crucial hub in the global semiconductor design ecosystem, hosting approximately 20% of the world's chip design engineers. While U.S. engineers define chip architecture and strategy, Indian teams excel in implementation, testing, and optimization. Government initiatives like the Semicon India Programme further aim to strengthen India's role in the semiconductor value chain.
Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology and Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday said that there will be a shortage of about 1 million semiconductor talents in the world by 2023 and Indians can fill that gap. He said the major objective of the semiconductor mission is to develop a talent pool for the world. By 2032, there will be a shortage of about 1 million semiconductor talents, that's what the experts predict. We have the opportunity to fill the large gap," Vaishnaw said. The Union Minister was speaking after inaugurating the Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test (OSAT) facility, one of the two units CG Semi is setting up in Sanad, Ahmedaad.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a major technological milestone during his address at The Economic Times World Leaders Forum on Saturday: India is set to roll out its first domestically manufactured semiconductor chip by the end of 2025. He also revealed that the nation is swiftly progressing in developing a "Made-in-India" 6G network. India's leap toward semiconductor self‑reliance Modi acknowledged that India had missed opportunities in the semiconductor space over the past five to six decades."We all know that semiconductor manufacturing could have started in India 50–60 years ago, but India missed that… Today we have changed this situation. Semiconductor-related factories have started coming up in India." He added, “By the end of this year, the first Made-in-India chip will come in the market.”
The government has already committed about Rs 62,900 crore — nearly 97 per cent of the Rs 65,000 crore earmarked for semiconductor manufacturing incentives — leaving room only for a handful of smaller projects, a top official said on Friday. Electronics and IT Secretary S Krishnan, while briefing on the upcoming Semicon India 2025 event, said the allocation was made under the Rs 76,000 crore India Semiconductor Mission. Of this, Rs 65,000 crore was reserved for chip production, Rs 10,000 crore for modernisation of the Semiconductor Laboratory in Mohali, and Rs 1,000 crore for the design-linked incentive scheme, PTI reported. "Out of this Rs 65,000 crore, I think we have committed close to Rs 62,900 crore or so already. We have limited funding, which we have available; we might be able to just accommodate two or three small projects," Krishnan said.
Among the supported firms is Bengaluru-based Vervesemi, developing ICs for space, defence, and smart energy applications semiconductors chipmakers The development is part of the Centre’s broader chipmaking push, which focuses on both production and design. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on Friday announced that it has approved 23 chip design projects under its Design Linked Incentive (DLI) scheme, backing domestic start-ups and MSMEs developing chips for applications ranging from surveillance cameras to energy metres. Among the supported firms is Vervesemi Microelectronics, a Bengaluru-based fabless semiconductor company founded in 2017. A fabless semiconductor company designs and develops semiconductor chips but outsources their manufacturing to specialised third-party foundries, focusing on innovation and design without owning fabrication facilities.