Semicon 2.0 to Target 200 Chip Design Startups and Companies in India

The government will target at least 200 startups and companies designing chips in India under the next phase of the country's semiconductor mission, Semicon 2.0, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Thursday.

Addressing the inaugural session of SEMICON India 2026, Vaishnaw said chip design would be the first of six pillars of Semicon 2.0, reflecting the government's expanded ambitions for building a domestic semiconductor ecosystem.

Under Semicon 1.0, more than 105 startups attempted chip design, with around 20 securing venture capital funding of approximately Rs 800 crore.

"That was just the beginning. This time our ambition is much bigger," Vaishnaw said, adding that the government would target companies working across the spectrum of semiconductor requirements.

The minister said Semicon 1.0 had helped establish the foundation for India's semiconductor industry by developing talent and nurturing the ecosystem. Semicon 2.0 will build on that base through six pillars -- design, machines and materials, fabrication units, advanced packaging, research and development, and talent.

The machines and materials pillar will cover capital equipment, maintenance facilities, chemicals and gases. The fabrication pillar will support more display, memory, silicon, compound and logic fabs.

Vaishnaw said the government also plans to accelerate advanced packaging, building on a 3D packaging facility coming up in Odisha. Industry-driven applied research projects will be undertaken in collaboration with academia under the R&D pillar.

On talent, Vaishnaw said 70,000 design engineers had already been trained in four years, against the 85,000 target set under Semicon 1.0. More than 400 universities now have access to advanced EDA tools.

Semicon 2.0 will additionally target 1 lakh skilled technicians, cleanroom personnel and factory-floor workers for upcoming semiconductor facilities.

Semicon 1.0, approved in December 2021, had an outlay of Rs 76,000 crore. Semicon 2.0, approved in July 2026, has a total outlay of Rs 1,27,500 crore.